''Neolamprologus similis'' is a shell-dwelling

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

in Africa, where it is only known along the shores of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. ''N. similis'' is copper-coloured with vertical white stripes running from the head to the base of the tail. It can reach up to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

, and it is a popular freshwater

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

fish.

Breeding habits

This fish is monomorphic: males and females are not visually different (males are bigger) and form small colonies or harems—depending on available space—in which the male fry are tolerated until they become active competitors of the male. Female fry are not only tolerated but are eventually courted as mates. The females also are objects of interest to neighboring males and may be targets of theft.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q906935 similis Fish of Lake Tanganyika Freshwater fish of Tanzania Fish of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Heinz Heinrich Büscher Fish described in 1992