Congo Killies - PageSuite

H. OTT
of the type locality will permit unequivocal clarification.
Aphyosemion elegans (Boulenger 1899) is not identical
with the species known to aquarists for decades under
this name. In the 1950s the Belgian aquarist Lambert
introduced killifishes from Boende labeled A. elegans into
the aquarium hobby. We (Van der Zee & Sonnenberg
2011) argue instead that Lambert’s fishes (which we
term A. sp. “Cuvette”) do not agree with Boulenger’s description
of A. elegans. This incorrectly identified species
has a very characteristic dark red dorsal fin, which is also
clearly recognizable in preserved specimens. Boulenger
doesn’t mention this character in the text of the description
of A. elegans, and no dark dorsal fin is shown in the
illustration accompanying the description. Uli Schliewen
brought what is probably the real A. elegans to Germany
from Mbombokonda. Aphyosemion sp. “Bombala” also
represents A. elegans, as does a commercial importation
in 2006 from the Tshuapa in the Boende region. Aphyosemion
elegans and the species recently described by us as
A. pseudoelegans occur sympatrically in the central Congo
Basin.
Aphyosemion ferranti (Boulenger 1910) is currently
known only from preserved specimens from various
locations in the southeast of the Congo. The species can
(purportedly) be identified very easily by the red longitudinal
band on the side of the body. But
there is at least one further, undescribed
species from the northern Congo
with a similar band. Perhaps a better
character is the unusual, asymmetric
color pattern on the caudal fin: spotted
above, without spots below. The species
also differs in further characters from
the other Aphyosemion species and may
belong in another species group, maybe
with “Aphyosemion” teugelsi. New collections
of both species, above all of
live specimens and DNA samples, may
solve many unanswered questions.
Aphyosemion lamberti (Radda &
Huber 1977) is widely distributed in
Gabon. Aphyosemion lamberti and A.
rectogoense are sibling species and, so
far, the only members of the genus
Aphyosemion that occur outside the
Congo Basin. To date it remains
unknown whether the genus Aphyosemion
colonized the Congo drainage
from southeast Gabon or the ancestors
of these two species came from the
Congo Basin. DNA results so far seem
to point to the second possibility. Like
all other members of the species group,
A. lamberti is also a rainforest dweller,
while A. rectogoense is the only savanna
dweller.
Aphyosemion lefiniense (Woeltjes 1984) is restricted
to the Lefini on the west bank of the Congo in the Congo
Republic. After the first collection, on which the description
was based, it wasn’t until 2005 that staff from the
RMCA were able to find this species again at various sites
in the Lefini. This species is very rare in the aquarium
hobby, and the captive population may even have died
out completely a few years ago.
Aphyosemion lujae (Boulenger 1911) is currently
known only from preserved specimens that originated
from the Sankuru system, a tributary of the Kasai, at
Kondue. Aphyosemion ferranti is also found near Kondue.
This species was, however, also collected at various places
around Bena Tshadi in 1974 and 1979. It remains unclear
whether the currently known locations for A. ferranti and
A. lujae in the vicinity of Kondue represent the southern
boundary of the distribution of Aphyosemion, or whether
the southern tributaries of the Kasai harbor additional,
as-yet-unknown species.
Aphyosemion musafirii (Van der Zee & Sonnenberg
2011) was only recently described. The species
was caught by Armand van Deun (AVD) in 2007, and
specimens from two populations were brought back alive
to Europe. These fishes have been maintained and bred
in the hobby as A. sp. AVD 1 and AVD 2. Although the
Aphyosemion plagitaenium from Epoma (RPC 91/1).
Aphyosemion pseudoelegans
from Boende, imported in
2002.
AMAZONAS
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