Tropheus Tales.

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Now that there are multiple Tropheus-keepers on this board, I've been thinking that perhaps we should have a little corner devoted to discussions of these interesting and challenging fishes. Everyone is welcome! So let's start with some background.

The type species of the genus, Tropheus moorii, was first described by Boulenger in 1898, but these fishes were largely unknown in the aquarium hobby until the mid-1970's. Since then Tropheus have become the most popular Tanganyikans in the hobby, and for good reason. Endemic to Lake Tanganyika, these highly specialized fishes inhabit rocky shallows that are distributed throughout the ~1200 mile shoreline of the lake. Because Tropheus populations tend to be isolated from their neighbors, they evolved independently, producing an array of more than 120 distinct populations that are known at present. The taxonomy of the genus is confused, and it is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, as access to large areas of the shoreline (especially in the politically unstable Democratic Republic of the Congo) is impossible. My own view is that Tropheus can be divided into the four scientifically-recognized species- Tropheus moorii, T. annectens, T. duboisi, and T. brichardi- plus four proposed species- T. maculatus, T. sp. 'black,' T. sp. 'red,' and T. sp. 'mpimbwe.' In my opinion, the proposed T. polli, T. sp. 'kasabe,' and T. sp. 'ikola' are junior synonyms of described taxa, and thus invalid. I expect that additional species will be described once further research on these fishes, including DNA typing, has been completed.

Recently I have been re-reading two of the most informative books that have been published on Tropheus in the wild- Ad Konings' 'Tropheus in their Natural Habitat,' and Peter Schupke's 'Tropheus' in the Aqualog series. Here is an excerpt from Konings' book describing the collection point around Bemba (a. k. a. Pemba or Cape Munene), an area in the extreme northwest corned of the lake that was first explored by Pierre Brichard in the 1950's. It is home to a Tropheus population- Tropheus sp. 'black' Bemba- that has been popular with Tropheus hobbyists for many years-

IMG_1049@50.jpg
Here is what Konings wrote about collecting Tropheus at Bemba-

'The so-called Bemba Moorii* is black with a very wide bright orange bar on the body. Juveniles are dark brown with a few gray-yellow bars on the flank. The underwater scenery at this locality is spectacular, with hundreds of little streams of air bubbles rising up from the bottom and with rocks made of lava that are overgrown with ruby-red algae and fluorescent green sponges.'

*This outdated trade name refers to Tropheus sp. 'black' Bemba.

The most up-to-date scientific publication that summarizes the taxonomic status of all known cichlid fishes of Lake Tanganyika can be found in-


Ronco, F., Büscher, H. H., Indermaur, A., and Salzburger, W. (2020) J. Great Lakes Res. 46(5):1067-1078.

https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/pmc7574848#free-full-text


More to follow...
 
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lloyd378

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
Great write up! Now, I have a follow up question… what is the official headcount of tropheus keepers on the box?
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Great write up! Now, I have a follow up question… what is the official headcount of tropheus keepers on the box?
As far as I can tell, two or three current and one former. There were a few more when I joined up in 2014, but hey, a 'movement' has to start somewhere! :cool:

Lake Tanganyika from space. Tanganyika is the second largest freshwater lake in the world, more than 400 miles from tip to tip. Virtually all of the fishes in the lake are endemic, found nowhere else on Earth.

Lake_Tanganyika_June1985.jpg
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
I should point out that the Tropheus populations I am currently keeping- Tropheus annectens Luagala Point, T. sp. 'red' Lunangwa South, T. moorii Mpulungu, and T. sp. 'black' Ikola, were all obtained from former Fishbox members. In like manner, some of my former colonies, including T. sp. 'black' Bemba, T. sp. 'red' Chimba, and T. sp. 'black' Ikola, were passed on to other hobbyists. The point here is that although a few popular Tropheus populations can be obtained from online vendors, or much more rarely, local fish stores, the vast majority of fishes simply circulate amongst Tropheus hobbyists.
 

VElderton

Active Member
I should point out that the Tropheus populations I am currently keeping- Tropheus annectens Luagala Point, T. sp. 'red' Lunangwa South, T. moorii Mpulungu, and T. sp. 'black' Ikola, were all obtained from former Fishbox members. In like manner, some of my former colonies, including T. sp. 'black' Bemba, T. sp. 'red' Chimba, and T. sp. 'black' Ikola, were passed on to other hobbyists. The point here is that although a few popular Tropheus populations can be obtained from online vendors, or much more rarely, local fish stores, the vast majority of fishes simply circulate amongst Tropheus hobbyists.
As a recipient of your generosity in knowledge and sharing fish, I can’t thank-you enough Keith … you’re an exceptional hobbyist!
 

Betty

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I used to be keep a group of tropheus but am down to my last two. Both old males living in separate 75 gallon tanks. Got the group back in 2010 from a member of gsas.

Years ago, I went to Ad Konings' presentations at the Portland aquarium club's meeting and the gsas' as well and got him to sign my copy of his Malawi book. He spoke about Malawi at one meeting and Tangs at the other. That was before his Tropheus book came out. Both really nice books.

I'm happy to see more about them on the forum. They are such good-looking, active and interesting fish to keep. And rarely a dull moment!
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
For anyone interested in learning more about Tropheus, whether you are presently keeping them or not, here is a link to a 3.5 hour YouTube video of the International Tropheus Conference, which was presented by the Ohio Cichlid Association in March 2021. The video features presentations by four of the most prominent Tropheus experts in the world. Ad Konings has spent hundreds if not thousands of hours diving in Lake Tanganyika, and is the author many books, including 'Tropheus in their Natural Habitat.' His talk, an overview of the Tropheus genus, begins at 00:25 (h:m) in the video. Pam Chin's talk, entitled 'Swimming with Tropheus,' begins at 01:02, and contains stunning video footage of Tropheus in the wild. Mathias Eberhart, who keeps ~45 different Tropheus populations in captivity, gave a talk entitled 'The European Tropheus Hobby,' which begins at 01:30. And finally, Laif DeMason, owner of Old World Exotic Fish and founder of Cichlid News magazine, gave a talk on the 'History of Tropheus Importation,' which begins at 01:52. The final hour of the video is a panel discussion and Q & A session (02:33-03:30). Enjoy!

 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
This is a copy of something I posted in the 'What did you do with your tanks today' thread two weeks ago, but since I wanted to follow it up in this thread, I thought I'd collect everything here.

********​

Today (03-27-23) I'm doing something I've never done before- converting a Tanganyikan featherfin tank into a Tropheus tank. I've done the reverse several times over the last ten years, but now I have a 100g available, and with my current stock, moving Tropheus into that tank makes the most sense. It's a bit of a process because featherfins need a deep substrate (to build nests), but Tropheus do not.

The plan is to give my Tropheus annectens Luagala Point a tank of their own in hopes of expanding the colony. These fishes are very rare in the hobby- I've never seen the Luagala Point population for sale- so propagating the colony is the only way to keep it going. They have not been breeding in a mixed colony with Tropheus moorii Mpulungu, which are more aggressive, so hopefully this will work.

Tropheus annectens Luagala Point; male in the foreground; females behind.

Annectens_01 copy.jpg


The pretty blue eyes also occur in some Tropheus brichardi populations-

IMGP5431R1 copy.jpg
 
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VElderton

Active Member
This is a copy of something I posted in the 'What did you do with your tanks today' thread two weeks ago, but since I wanted to follow it up in this thread, I thought I'd collect everything here.

********​

Today (05-27-23) I'm doing something I've never done before- converting a Tanganyikan featherfin tank into a Tropheus tank. I've done the reverse several times over the last ten years, but now I have a 100g available, and with my current stock, moving Tropheus into that tank makes the most sense. It's a bit of a process because featherfins need a deep substrate (to build nests), but Tropheus do not.

The plan is to give my Tropheus annectens Luagala Point a tank of their own in hopes of expanding the colony. These fishes are very rare in the hobby- I've never seen the Luagala Point population for sale- so propagating the colony is the only way to keep it going. They have not been breeding in a mixed colony with Tropheus moorii Mpulungu, which are more aggressive, so hopefully this will work.

Tropheus annectens Luagala Point; male in the foreground; females behind.

Annectens_01 copy.jpg


The pretty blue eyes also occur in some Tropheus brichardi populations-

IMGP5431R1 copy.jpg
Keith I have no doubt your work breeding these fish will be a success … within our Cascadia group I don’t any one else has that is more knowledgeable and precise than you?

PS: I think your date 05-27-23 listed at the top of your post should be 04-27-23 … am I correct?
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
Keith I have no doubt your work breeding these fish will be a success … within our Cascadia group I don’t any one else has that is more knowledgeable and precise than you?

PS: I think your date 05-27-23 listed at the top of your post should be 04-27-23 … am I correct?
Actually, it should be 03-27-23; I guess I got a bit ahead of myself. Happens all the time... :eek:
 
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