Lake Tanganyika cichlids — species, locations & maps

By genera By locations Locations Maps Posters Interactive map

Tropheus 'Red Blotch' (unknown locality)<br><font color=gray>Tropheus 'red belly' (unknown locality)</font><br><font color=red>T. sp. 'kirschfleck' x T. sp. 'limespot'</font>

Tribe / Genus:

Tropheini / Tropheus

Special notes:

The Tropheus known in the aquarium hobby as “Red Belly” originates from the area between Mabilibili Bay and Lyamembe Bay and is the product of natural hybridization between Tropheus sp. 'kirschfleck' and T. sp. 'limespot'. The name “Red Belly” has therefore become established in the aquarium hobby for hybrids from this area, which display a wide variety of patterns—some of them do not show any red coloration on the body at all. African Diving Ltd, however claim that T. sp. 'Red Belly' is actually a distinct species and does not originate from the area between Mabilibili Bay and Lyamembe Bay; they refer to the hybrids from this region as “Red blotch” (the secret of the true T. sp. 'Red Belly' is, for now, being kept to themselves). “Red blotch” is thus not the only hybrid from this area, as African Diving have identified and photographed an additional 40 different color variants there. One of the more interesting hybrids has been named Tropheus “Zadeni”. Photographs of all hybrids from this area can be found in issue 17 of Tanganika Magazyn.