New species of lamprologines from Tanganyika and associated rivers continue to be discovered. With about 80 described lacustrine species, lamprologines comprise roughly half of the cichlid species in Lake Tanganyika. Scientists have recently described a new lamprologine cichlid, Lepidiolamprologus mimicus.

Underwater observation during the period and analysis of stomach contents of samples revealed that this species was exclusively piscivorous and mainly preyed on young and sub-adults of cyprichromine cichlids. In the littoral region of Kasenga, four species of cyprichromine (Cyprichromis leptosoma, C. zonatus, C. coloratus, and Paracyprichromis brieni) form mixed-species schools. When hunting, L. mimicus changed their body coloration, generally looking like female Paracyprichromis brieni. This enabled them to blend into schools of their prey. This is the first instance of aggressive mimicry reported for lamprologines.

For more information, see the paper: Schelly, R., Takahashi, T., Bills, R., Hori, M., 2007. The first case of aggressive mimicry among lamprologines in a new species of Lepidiolamprologus (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika. Zootaxa, 1638, 39-49