cyathopharynx furcifer halembe

Cyathopharynx furcifer “Halembe” — Featherfin Cichlid

One of Lake Tanganyika’s most spectacular cichlids, the Cyathopharynx furcifer “Halembe” is a showpiece fish prized for the metallic, almost holographic sheen of its scales. Collected from the Halembe region along the Tanzanian coastline, this geographic variant is celebrated for the shimmering blue-to-turquoise iridescence that shifts and glows as the fish moves through the water, accented by the trailing, yellow-tipped pelvic fins that give the “featherfin” its name.

Mature males are the crown jewels of any Tanganyikan display, reaching around 8 inches (20 cm) and developing extraordinary color and finnage as they mature. In the wild, males construct large sand-crater bowers to court females, a fascinating lekking behavior that can be observed in a properly scaped aquarium. Females and juveniles are more subtly colored but share the species’ elegant, streamlined form.