The Genus Tropheus; or about some aquatic goats in lake Tanganyika
One of the families that occupy an important position in our interest is the family of Tropheus for the scientist and the aquarists as well. At the great collecting expedition in 1895/1896 the first specimen of the family were caught and Boulenger described them in 1898. They live in relative large groups, in relative shallow water along the boarding of the lake, where the cost is rocky. He eats algae (grazing), normally is polygamic and a mouthbreeder and can be utmost aggressive. Within each of the existing specimen different color variants occur.
The specimen:
Up until now 5 specimen of the family have been scientifically described , gamely:
Tropheus moorii (Boulenger 1898)
Tropheus duboisi (Marlier 1959)
Tropheus brichardi (Nelissen & Thys van den Audenaerde 1975)
Tropheus moorii kasabae (Nelissen 1977)
Tropheus polli (G.Axelrod 1977)
Perhaps here we may pay some attention to Tropheus annectens which is not found in the survey above. In 1900 this species has been described by Boulenger but since then his status is controversial. He would have been caught near Albertville (Kalèmie); that means that it can't possibly deal with a Tropheus brichardi because he would live at the other side of the lake in the neighbourhood of Nyanza. An other identification for Tropheus annectens would be the rays in the fins. Their number would defer from the that of Tropheus moorii, ( 5 hard ones i.e. 4 ) but most of the population would have only 4 hard finrays yet. Further the description is based on two specimen preserved in alcohol. Because the place where they caught them is situated in in Congo, which makes it next to inaccessible, there is since then written about it hardly nothing. Anyone who wants can in view of the existing literature make his own conclusions.

For more information and pictures see the Photo-info pages 9, 10 and 11