<Lamprologus> ocellatus
STEINDACHNER, 1909

	Photo © Michael Persson
<Lamprologus> ocellatus "Gold".

Trade names and synonyms
Neolamprolagus ocellatus, Julidochromis ocellatus, Lamprologus lestradei, Yellow ocellatus.

Size
Males up to 6 cm, females mostly not more than 3,5-4 cm.

Food
Shrimpmix, spirulinaflakes and newly hatched brine shrimps. The natural feed mainly consists of crustaceans.

Aquarium
The aquaruim for this cichlid should not be smaller than 60 litres, arranged with fine sand and plenty of empty shells from e.g. edible snail (could be found in most grocery stores) or from the Neothauma tanganicencis-snail.

Habitat
This cichlid occurs at depth between 5 and 50 metres, above sandy and muddy floors covered by empty shells from the Neothauma-snail. It is not as bound to the sandy habitat as most of the other shell-dwelling cichlids in the lake, it could also be found in more stony and rocky surroundings.

Breeding
The males territory could contain several shells that are persistent guarded even towards significant larger spiecies. The males territory could accommodate a number of females which also guards small territories around their chosen shell.
The female affixes her eggs inside the spiral of the shell. Because the male in most cases are too big to enter the shell he will discharge his milt from the entrance of the shell. The female moves her fins to help the milt to reach the eggs deep inside the shell. The eggs will be hatched within the next 72 hours, the normal size of a brood is between 20-25 frys. The frys will be freeswimming first after another 6 days, however it will be a long time before the frys leaves the shelter from their shell.
Juveniles are sexually mature after about 9-10 months.

General
Lamprologus occelatus is a tremendous charming and lively cichlid which I really want to recommend. It's often seen swimming around the shell and it guards the territory with great intense. If you put your arms in the tank to clean and come too near a territory of a L. occelatus it won't hesitate to bite your arms. It could often be seen laying down at the floor using the lateral fins to lean on.

Distribution
Occurs all around the Lake Tanganyika except the part north of Nyanza-lac, a number of geographical races are known.