Tanganyika

The table below shows foods taken by each species or genera. It is presented as a guide only.
Generally fish with long intestines feed on vegetable matter whilst those with short intestines are carnivorous.

Species	Diet
Altolamprologus calvus & A.compressiceps	Fish fry & crustaceans. Some reports they will rob eggs of other cichlid species.
Asprotilapia leptura	Crops algae from rocks.
Aulonocranus dewindti	Insect larvae & invertebrates. Has a very sensitive detection system to locate prey.
Bathybates	Fish, mainly Stolothrissa & Limnothrissa sp.
Benthochromis melanoides & tricoti	Small crustaceans & plankton.
Boulengerochromis microlepis	Fish.
Callochromis	Opportunist feeding on anything they can find filtering in the sand.
Chalinochromis	Snails.
Cunningtonia longiventralis	Scrapes the biocover for algae.
Cyathopharynx furcifer	Small foods like unicellular algae, diatoms (including diatom skeletons) & plankton floating in the water column. Also feeds from the biocover & sand floor. Stomach contents of wild fish have shown large quantities of sand.
Cyathopharynx schoutedeni	As for C.furcifer.
Cyphotilapia frontosa	Feeds on fish, mainly Cyprichromis which drop to the bottom during the night. C.frontosa feed at first light before the Cyprichromis fully wake up.
Cyprichromis	Zooplankton.
Eretmodus	Scrapes algae from rocks
Gnathochromis permaxillaris	Plankton, zooplankton.
Gnathochromis pfefferi	Only eats 'meaty' foods - not specialised to any particular item. Not vegetarian.
Grammatotria lemairii	Hard shelled invertebrates found in the sand. This species first blow the top layer of sand away & dives deeper into the lower levels of the sand base.
Greenwoodochromis christyi & bellcrossi	Both species have powerful mouths & live at depth. Possibly live on crabs & molluscs.
Haplotaxodon microlepis	Fish predator. Young fish take zooplankton.
Hemibates stenosoma	Fish predator.
Julidochromis	Snails.
Lamprologus callipterus	Crustaceans, insect larvae young Cichlid fry from other species.
Lamprologus lemairei	Fish, primarily small Cichlids.
Lamprologus ornatipinnis	Zooplankton.
Lamprologus signatus	Zooplankton.
Lepidiolamprologus attenuatus	Fish. Also known to take scales from other larger fish.
Lepidolamprologus elongatus	Feeds on fish fry & fish particularly Nematolebias elongatus. Also takes crustaceans & insect larvae. Juveniles take plankton.
Lepidiolamprologus profundicola	Feeds on fish.
Lestradea	Micro organisms. Sifts sand for small food particles & feeds from 'ooze' which accumulates in small areas of the sand floor.
Limnochromis abeelei	Large crabs & small fish.
Limnochromis auritus	Snails. Juveniles take Zooplankton.
Limnochromis staneri	Small molluscs.
Limnotilapia dardennei	Higher forms of plant including Chara. L.dardennei is found with large concentrations of this plant.
Lobochilotus labiatus	A deep water species feeding on crabs. Young are known to suck invertebrates from sponges. Also known to suck mussels & snails from their shells. Young eat crustaceans & insect larvae.
Microdontochromis tenuidantatus	Micro organisms, insect larvae & crustaceans. As no sand was found in stomach contents it is thought this species does not feed off the bottom sand layer.
Neolamprologus brevis	Zooplankton.
Neolamprologus caudopunctatus	Zooplankton.
Neolamprologus christyi	Invertebrates, insect larvae, molluscs & worms.
Neolamprologus elongatus complex	Zooplankton (Cyclops types). The small length of the intestine (60%) would indicate a more carniverous diet.
Neolamprologus fasciatus	Small shrimps & fish.
Neolamprologus furcifer	Crustaceans & insect larvae.
Neolamprologus leleupi group	Invertebrates. Fry take plankton.
Neolamprologus meeli	Insect larvae & shrimp.
Neolamprologus modestus & N.mondabu	Small snails (Chytra kirki, Spekia zonata, Paramelania damoni & Tanganycia rufofilosa). Also takes eggs of the Killifish Lamprichthys tanganicanus.
Neolamprologus moorii	Varied diet. Known to take invertebrates but also ingests algae from the biocover.
Neolamprologus niger	Small molluscs, Zooplankton, crustaceans & insect larvae.
Neolamprologus petricola	Insect larvae.
Neolamprologus pleuromaculatus	Fish.
Neolamprologus pulcher	Plankton
Neolamprologus sexfasciatus	Molluscs (mainly Neothauma) & fish. It's possible they may eat shell dwelling fish also.
Neolamprologus tetracanthus	Molluscs, insect larvae & fish. This is not a snail crusher but sucks its prey from the shell. An opportunist feeder.
Neolamprologus toae	In the wild they reportedly feed at night but in captivity will feed during daylight. Insect larvae & crustaceans.
Neolamprologus tretocephalus	Molluscs. Intestines are the shortest recorded in the lake for a Cichlid at 30% of body length indicating this is a carnivorous species. This is an opportunist feeder taking anything on offer.
Neolamprologus wauthioni	Small crustaceans, small invertebrates (shrimp) & insect larvae.
Ophthalmotilapia	Plankton & insect larvae. Algae also forms part of their diet. Intestines are 3-4 times the length of the fish which suggests vegetable matter is taken.
Ophthalmotilapia heterodonta	Algae.
Ophthalmotilapia nasuta	Plankton & other small vegetarian matter.
Oreochromis tanganicae	Algae. Intestine length 6 times body length.
Perissodus eccentricus	Scale eater found at great depths.
Perissodus microlepis	Feeds on scales taken from algae grazers (Tropheus & Pseudosimochromis).
Petrochromis	Algal feeders. It has been reported that P.trewavassae has an intestine 10 times longer than the total length of the fish & can be over a metre in length. As with Tropheus they should not be fed Beef Heart, Bloodworm or mosquito larvae.
Petrochromis fasciolatus	Sifts detritus for diatoms. It's possible this fish will take other food sources than algae. Feeds on undersides of rocks.
Plecodus elaviae	Scale eater.
Plecodus multidentatus	Scale eater. Main prey being Trematocara sp.
Plecodus paradoxus	Feeds on scales & smaller fish. Known to hunt in packs.
Plecodus straeleni	Scale eater mostly on Cyphotilapia frontosa which it mimics.
Pseudosimochromis	Filamentous algae which is pulled from the substrate.
Reganochromis calliurus	Shrimps, crabs & small fish.
Simochromis babaulti & diagramma	Feeds on algae. Intestine measures 3-4 times the fishes length.
Simochromis loocki	Feeds on debris.
Simochromis marginatus	Feeds on algae. Intestine measures 6 times body length.
Spathodus	Invertebrates & algae. Grains of sand have been found in the gut suggesting they may also eat diatoms.
Tangachromis dhansi	Zooplankton.
Tanganicodus	Small invertebrates picked from the sand base.
Telmatochromis	Filamentous algae has been found in stomach contents but the intestine measures only 150% of the fishes length. Due to the teeth structure it's possible these fish take insect larvae. Algae may be taken up while feeding on these larvae.
Telmatochromis bifrenatus	Fish eggs (L.elongatus of which young fish resemble) & invertebrates.
Telmatochromis burgeoni	Hard shelled insects & small molluscs.
Telmatochromis dhonti	Small invertebrates.
Trematocara	Lives at deeper levels but moves higher at night to feed on insect larvae & crustaceans. These are located by a lateral line near the mouth.
Trematocara caparti & kufferathi	Zooplankton.
Trematocara marginatum	Prefers soft, small foods.
Trematocara nigrifrons & stigmaticum	Generalised feeders taking anything they can get into their mouths.
Trematocara unimaculatum	Snails & small invertebrates.
Trematocara variabile	Insect larvae & crustaceans.
Trematochromis schreyeni	Plankton.
Triglachromis otostigma	Rakes the mud bottom with spines on the pectoral fin in search of insect larvae & anything else edible. Stmach contents show large quantities of mud.
Tropheus duboisi	Found in deeper areas than T.moorii (although young have been found in upper levels). This suggests they ae not so dependant on algae to feed.
Tropheus moorii	Tropheus should be fed mainly vegetarian foods such as Spirulina. Kelp is useful as this contains many trace elements. Diet can also consist of Cyclops, Daphnia & Mysis in small quantities. Foods to avoid are high protein animal foods such as Beef Heart & the insect Bloodworm.
Tylochromis polylepis	Stomach contents show sand grains which suggests this species collects food from the bottom. Some authors suggest they eat plants such as Vallisneria. The intestine is 2 times as long as the body which suggests a generalised diet.
Xenochromis hecqui	Scale eater.
Xenotilapia	Invertebrates found by sifting the sand.
Xenotilapia bathyphilus, nigrolabiata & ornatipinnis	Plankton.
Xenotilapia burtoni & longispinis	Invertebrates.

References - Tanganyika Cichlids. Ad Konings