Cyprichromis

The sardine cichlid, Cyprichromis leptosoma, is a peaceful open-water cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. In nature it congregates in shoals of several thousand, feeding on zooplankton, and it occurs in several geographical morphs, each in blue and yellow-tailed forms. Fish sold as C. leptosoma sp. 'Jumbo' grow larger than the 'true' leptosoma and are likely a different species, and none of these forms should be housed together because they can hybridise.

The smallscale Cyprichromis, Cyprichromis microlepidotus, is an open-water cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, mostly at the northern end of the lake. Quite a rarity in the hobby, it lives in huge mixed groups with other Cyprichromis species and the similar Paracyprichromis. Several geographical variants exist, each with a yellow and a blue-tailed form, and they should never be mixed in the aquarium because they will interbreed.