Alluaud's haplo

Astatoreochromis alluaudi

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 7.0–8.0
Adult size: 7.5 in (19 cm)
Minimum tank: 55 gal (210 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lake Victoria
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

This is a large fish that needs a tank of at least 210 liters with room to move and a few rock structures to break up territory. It sits in the middle and lower water and is mostly peaceful for its size, though it can get pushy. In the wild it eats snails and other shelled invertebrates, so feed a quality cichlid pellet plus shelled shrimp and krill to keep its jaws working.

In the wild

Alluaud's haplo lives in the shallow, weedy margins of Lake Victoria and connected waters in East Africa. It favors slow water with submerged plants for cover and feeding. In the tank, give it open swimming room with some rockwork and hardy plants. Hard, alkaline water from the low to high 20s C with a pH from 7 to 8 suits it.

Good to know

This is a robust cichlid in the family Cichlidae, reaching about 19 cm. It is best known for its heavy, molar-like throat teeth, which let it crush snails and other hard-shelled prey. Its diet visibly shapes those jaws, a well-studied case of one body changing with what it eats. It is a maternal mouthbrooder, with the female incubating her eggs and fry in her mouth.

Did you know

This fish is a textbook example of how diet can reshape an animal's body. Individuals raised on hard-shelled food grow noticeably stronger crushing teeth and jaw muscles, while those fed soft food develop weaker ones, even though they share the same genes.