Benthochromis tricoti

Benthochromis: from the Greek benthos, meaning 'depth', and chromis, a name the ancient Greeks used for a fish.

tricoti: in honour of M. Tricot, director of the Great Lakes Railroad Company at Albertville (now Kalemie), for his help to the Belgian Hydrobiological Mission to Lake Tanganyika of 1946-1947. The mission collected the type.[6]

Endemic to Lake Tanganyika, and recorded from the waters of all four countries bordering the lake: Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.

Type locality is 'near Karema, Tanzania, Lake Tanganyika, depth 100-125 meters', on the lake's eastern shore.[1][6][7]

A fish of open water over the deeper parts of the lake, away from the rocky shoreline. The type specimens were trawled at 100-125 m, and most museum specimens with a recorded depth were caught at 40-85 m.

Little else has been published on its habitat, and we have no reliable data on where in the water column it spawns.[1]

A tank measuring 150 ∗ 60 ∗ 60 cm60 ∗ 24 ∗ 24 in (~540 litres~143 US gal) is the minimum for a group of this species.

It swims in open water, mostly in the upper half of the tank, and doesn't use rocks or caves the way many Tanganyikan cichlids do. Leave at least the upper two thirds of the tank clear, as the fish need the swimming space and can injure their large eyes on sharp rockwork if startled.

A few low piles of rock along the bottom are fine for looks, or for tankmates that need them. Use fine sand as the substrate and keep the lighting subdued, since this is a fish of deep, dim water. Some water movement is also recommended.

Keep the tank well-covered, as it's a powerful swimmer that can jump when excited.

Temperature: 24 – 27 °C75 – 81 °F

pH: 7.5 – 9.0

Hardness: 10 – 25 dGH

In the lake it feeds on zooplankton, mainly small crustaceans (Konings, 1988).

It has a small mouth, so small live and frozen foods such as Artemia, Mysis and Cyclops should form the staple diet. Supplement these with a good-quality dried food that includes some vegetable matter, such as a Spirulina flake, and feed small amounts several times a day so it gets its share.[3]

Peaceful, and easily stressed by boisterous tankmates such as Tropheus or the Malawian mbuna. Those fish also need a different diet.

It's best kept in a species tank, but it has been kept with other calm Tanganyikan cichlids such as Enantiopus, Xenotilapia, Cyprichromis, Paracyprichromis, Altolamprologus and Gnathochromis species. Smaller Tanganyikan catfishes such as Synodontis petricola are also suitable, but larger species are best avoided.

It lives in schools in the lake and should be kept in a group of at least 5 or 6, with several females to each male if possible.

Adult males are larger and far more colourful than females. Females are mostly plain.

A maternal mouthbrooder (Takahashi, 2008). The female takes the eggs into her mouth as soon as they are laid.

Spawnings have been reported in aquaria, but broods are small and few fry have been raised to adulthood. Captive-bred fry are released weak and underdeveloped, with a large head and a small body, and are difficult to feed. Newly hatched Artemia nauplii of the finest grade are the usual first food.

B. horii has been traded under this name (Takahashi, 2008), so some aquarium breeding reports may refer to that species. We have no reliable figures for brood size or incubation time in B. tricoti.[2]

Described as Haplotaxodon tricoti by Poll in 1948, and made the type species of Benthochromis when Poll erected the genus in 1986.

The genus has three species: B. tricoti, B. melanoides (Poll, 1984) and B. horii Takahashi, 2008. B. horii was described from off Mtondwe Island in the Zambian part of the lake, and had been confused with B. tricoti and traded as an aquarium fish under that name.

Takahashi (2008) separates the two by eye size and dorsal-fin rays. In B. horii the eye is usually shorter than the snout and the dorsal fin has 30 or 31 spines and rays in total, while in B. tricoti the eye is as long as or longer than the snout and the dorsal fin usually has 28 or 29. Large males of B. horii also differ in colour pattern and have long pelvic fins.

It's seldom seen in the hobby, as it's difficult to collect and ship, and it's one of the more expensive Tanganyikan cichlids when it does appear.[2]