Pseudotropheus Crabro
Cichlidé frelon
Bumblebee cichlid

• Scientific name: Pseudotropheus crabro

• Common name(s): Bumblebee Cichlid, Hornet Cichlid
• General nature: Aggressive, both to its own kind and others
• Difficulty to maintain: Relatively easy
• Aquarium size: Medium to large, provide plenty of places to hide, both for the crabro and any other species living with it
• Preferred pH: Between 7.5 - 8.4
• Preferred hardness: Hard
• Preferred temperature: 78^oF - 82^oF
• Spawning style: An African cichlid that is a mouth brooder. The female holds the eggs while they mature
• Spawning difficulty:relatively easy, as long as there is enough room and the tankmates allow the fish to spawn, otherwise use a separate breeding aquarium
• Parental behaviour: After spawning the male is no longer interested, the female broods the eggs in her mouth and holds them until the fry are free swimming and able to hide in the rocks.
• Preferred food: Omnivorous, will eat just about any foods, but should be provided with a pelleted food that is large enough to be taken easily. Some freeze dried and frozen foods can be offered as well.
• Comments: This is an interesting species since it is normally found in deep water caves and hollows in its home in Lake Malawi, where it resides with the Kampango catfish. It does some grooming work since it is well known to pick various parasites off the catfish host.

  Neither fish is particularly peaceful. It has the ability to rapidly change form very dark to the better known bumblebee stripes of orange and black. Apparently, this is related to the way the Pseudotropheus crabro relates to the catfish it shares the cave with. The Bumblebee cichlid is only really safe when it is showing its stripes. It can change colours from the bumblebee pattern into a dark or muddy brown quite rapidly.

  One of the ways it finds food is by pirating from the massive number of eggs the Kompango will lay in the cave when it is spawning. In order to steal these morsels, the crabo turns to the dark, camouflaged colouration to steal some eggs as a meal. When done it can rapidly reappear with the safe stripes the catfish will tolerate. It is only the bumblebee colours which are allowed by the catfish, otherwise there will be an attack