Animalia Life

Boulengerochromis microlepis
FAMILY
Cichlidae
TAXONOMY
Tilapia microlepis Boulenger, 1899, Lake Tanganyika at Moliro, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Yellowbelly cichlid; German: Riesenbuntbarsch; Swahili: Kuhe.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Maximum length 25.6 in (65 cm); largest African cichlid. Background color yellowish, with numerous dark but faint vertical bars. Four dark blotches along middle of flanks. Caudal fin lunate.
DISTRIBUTION
Widely distributed in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.
HABITAT
Deeper water over sand as well as open water, enters shallower waters to breed.
BEHAVIOR
Cruises open waters in pursuit of schools of small fishes.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on smaller fishes.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Substrate spawners, uses rocks or abandoned nests of other cichlids to deposit eggs. Both parents aggressively guard fry, have even been known to attack scuba divers who approached too close to a nest. Lays 5,000–12,000 eggs during spawning; eggs hatch in about three days. Some evidence suggests that pairs do not feed again after spawning, and spawn only once in a lifetime.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Popular sport fishes with excellent tasting flesh.

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