Princess of burundi

Body length up to 9 cm, in the aquarium up to 12 cm (usually 7-10 cm). The color is pinkish-beige with small yellow dots on the body and fins, from the eye to the edge of the gill cover passes an intermittent black stripe. On the upper edge of the patterned gill covers there is a bright yellow spot. Above each eye there is a greenish spot, the stigma has a bluish mosaic pattern. The most unusual sign of this cichlid is the very elongated tips of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, which have orange touches and bright blue and white bordering. The tail fin is lyre-shaped. In the mating season, males become greenish-blue, the head on the sides and bottom is blue, the yellow spots are brighter. Males are larger than females, with more elongated fin ends.

Endemic to the northern part of Lake Tanganyika ( East Africa ), inhabits shallow rock biotopes , rarely found at a depth of more than 7 m. Bentopelagic fish. It lives in water with a temperature of + 22 ... + 25 ° C and pH = 8.0–9.0 at a depth of 3 to 25–30 m.

Young male

It feeds on phyto - and zooplankton , mollusks and insects. These are strictly schooling fish, unlike other lamprologus. Flocks are based on consanguinity and are distinguished by a strict hierarchy. The core of the flock is a small group of producers, usually no more than 10 individuals. They actively breed, and the intervals between spawning are up to 20 days. The care of eggs, larvae and fry that started to swim is assigned not only to producers, but also to a special group of helpers. They are fry of the 4-5th age group, mainly future females. This group occupies the second step in the hierarchical ladder of the pack. The next group is growing juveniles up to the fifth age category. Having reached 3-4 months of age, they leave their parents spawning places, replenishing the most numerous part of the flock. This is the most “disenfranchised” group that does not even have its own territory. Usually they are located 1-2 m above the spawning grounds of their parents, where predators constantly scurry about.

Matures at the age of 8-10 months. A male spawns with one or more females. The pre-spawning female is distinguished by a long genital papilla. Caviar is often laid on the inside of the substrate. Portion spawning ; at one time, the female spawns up to 30 eggs. A pair of fish guards the area where they laid eggs.

In the USSR, aquarists have been keeping the princess of Burundi since 1972 . A pair of fish requires an aquarium with a volume of at least 50-60 l, but it is better to keep a group (one male and several females) in a larger aquarium (at least 150 l). It should be covered, as fish can jump out. The aquarium is equipped with a coastal rocky terrain with small caves, rocky soil and thickets of wallisneria in the corners. Plants, so that their fish do not dig up, it is necessary to plant in pots or stone their roots. Water temperature + 22 ... + 26 ° С (maximum + 28 ° С), pH = 7.6–8.1 (minimum 7.0, maximum 8.6), water hardness dH = 8–20 ° (25 °) . Aeration, filtration (a filter is desirable with a crushed marble filler), a weekly change of 10-30% of the water volume with the same characteristics are required. The conditions in the aquarium must be stable. Peace-loving fish, get along well in an aquarium with medium-sized non-aggressive neighbors - rainbows ( Melanotaenia spp.), Atherins ( Telmatherina ladige-si ) and others who prefer hard water with a slightly alkaline reaction. Aggressiveness appears only during the spawning period. They are fed live feed and additionally dry (eat reluctantly). You can feed finely chopped fillet of marine fish.

Spawn in pairs. Spawning aquarium of at least 50 liters per pair. In a large aquarium (more than 200 l), group spawning is possible. In spawning grounds, flower pots without a bottom or grottoes of stones are needed. Spawning can be stimulated by substitution of 10% water with the same chemical characteristics and a temperature increase of about 2 ° (up to + 26 ... + 27 ° C). Caviar is usually laid on the inside of the shelter. Fertility is up to 200 eggs, in the first spawning about 80 pcs. The incubation period lasts about 3 days. Larvae turn into fry and begin to feed independently after 6–9 days at a temperature of + 25 ° C. Starting feed is small plankton: rotifers , brine shrimps and cyclops . Parents take care of the offspring for a long time, so fry of three generations can sometimes be in the aquarium. A pair of fish guards a territory within a radius of about 25 cm around a shelter with caviar. Youngsters, growing to 3-5 cm, stay on the parental territory or near its borders and act as assistants in protecting and caring for the territory, show humility towards parents and dominant family members, but aggressively attack strangers. Such juveniles have lower energy costs and a slower growth rate. Painted young, like parents. There are frequent cases of adult species protecting alien fry of their own species. Parents take care of their offspring for two weeks, and then again are ready for spawning, and then either they or larvae should be planted. If it is necessary to accelerate the next spawning, the pot of caviar after spawning must be transferred for incubation to another container, without waiting for the larvae to hatch.

Princess Burundi is the least whimsical and most resistant to environmental conditions among representatives of the genus Neolamprologus .

• The colorful world of the aquarium. Issue 2. - Moscow: Planet, 1982. - 25 p.
• Maréchal C., Poll M. 1991. Neolamprologus. p. 274-294. In: J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse, GG Teugels and DFE Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. four.

• FishBase: Neolamprologus brichardi
• Bigirimana, C. 2006. Neolamprologus brichardi . In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.