Aphyosemion amoenum Radda & Purzl 1976

Unknown population picked up in an auction early '80's

Meaning of Name

Meaning beautiful.
First Description

Radda A.C. & Pürzl E. 1976.
Der Aphyosemion cameronense-Komplex.
DKG Journal 8 (11) 134-138.
Size

6 cm.
Meristics

D = 11-12, A = 16-17, D/A = +9-10, ll = 32-33.
Karyotype

16 (22).
Sub-Genus

Mesoaphyosemion
Group

A.cameronense
Synonyms

Aphyosemion raddai amoenum Scheel 1981
Populations
  • Dibang
  • Log Bako'o (Has a white colouration to the lower outer margin of the caudal fin) EMS 90 / 9
  • Mbanga
  • N'Kong
  • Mbanga (Has an orange anal fin)
  • Mkak
  • N'Konga - C89 / 22
  • Ndoupé - EMS 90 / 10
  • Pouma
  • Sakabayeme
  • Sonbo
  • Son Mayo - EMS 90/8
  • ABC 06 / 125
  • ABDK 2010 / 425 - Makek
  • C89 /46
  • CGE 91 / 13
  • K 75 / 24
  • KEK 98/25

A.amoenum circulating in the US around 1980. Photo: Courtesy of Lennie MacKowiak

A.amoenum in circulation in the BKA.
Photo courtesy of Pat Rimmer

This form distributed in the BKA in the '70's.
BKA photo.

 

Photo courtesy of Maurice Chauche & the KCF website.

 

C 89/22 - Collected 12th July at 12 noon. In the villlage of Nkonga 6kms north of Pouma on the road to Sakbayémé. Stream, which crossed the road, was 20 cm deep with a width of 1 - 2 metres. Clear water with 'average strength' flow. Water temperature 23°C, pH 7, 0 dGH.
A.amoenum (3 half grown fish collected), A.loennbergi (resembled the previous location), a few small barbs & some cichlids.

C 89/46 - Biang, on the Pouma to Sakbayémé road. Collected 26th July at 2.30 pm. Water temperature 25°C, pH 6, dGH 1°. Stream was 25 cm deep & 75 cm wide. Syntopic sp. A.loennbergii.

CGE 91/13 - Collected 11th August at about 10 am. Near the village of Ngong Mkak on the Sakbayémé to Kahn road, 6kms east of the bridge over the Sanaga River. This location was north of the Sanaga River & drained into this river. Water temperature 22°C. A.amoenum rare. Also caught were barbs & cichlids. The villagers mentioned that the A.amoenum were there in greater numbers in the rainy season. More red in the body with a smaller yellow blotch.
In KEK 98 Eberl returned & collected a few kms east of this location at point KEK 98 / 25.

Dibang - Village just north of Sonbo. Maintained in aquaria in the 1980's. No precise collection locality. This is a fairly large drainage area.

EMS 90/8 - Son Mayo - Collected in the Lababaga stream near the village of Son Mayo, south of Sakbayémé. Collected on 19th August at about 11 am. Water temperature 23°C, depth of water 20-50 cm & 60 cm wide (average). Stream flow 'relatively slow', clear & slightly brownish. A.amoenum, A.loennbergii, E.sexfasciatus, barb sp. & cichlids.
Reportedly one of the easier populations to breed. Spawns in mops. Fry have been reported growing on in the parents tank.
In BKA newsletter No.437, February 2001 Mark Wessels reported breeding them in a trio of 1 male & 2 females. A planted tank with a black base was used. Water temperature 70-72°F, pH 6 - 6·5, 3 GH. Water changes of 30-50% weekly with slightly cooler water. Eggs are collected weekly off floating mops. On average 10-20 collected weekly. Eggs that have started to darken are put into a container & water incubated, others are put onto wet peat. Water is 50% changed every 2 days. Few eggs get fungus & hatch in 14-18 days. Growth rate of the fry is initially slow. Sexing out starts at 1·5 - 2 cm. Sexual maturity takes 7-8 months with adult size taking a year.

EMS 90/9 - Collected 19th August, Near the village of Log Bako'o, 5kms east of Pouma on the Axe Lourd. A.amoenum (a few males), A.raddai (2 half grown males), A.loennbergi, E.sexfasciatus & a small barb sp. Stream is part of the Kellé drainage. No fish brought back into captivity.
A year later Wolfgang Grell & Wolfgang Eberl collected again from this locality & brought back live fish (A.amoenum) to Europe. These were distributed as Log Bako'o.

EMS 90/10 - Collected 19th August. Small stream near the village of Ndoupé on the Route Ancienne. Stream is part of the Kellé drainage. A.amoenum, A.loennbergii & a barb sp.
 Collected 100 metres south of the Route Ancienne. Stream 20 cm deep & 50 cm wide. At 1pm water temperature was 23°C, clear & slightly brownish. Stream had been dammed up for bathing. Killies found in large numbers.

Ndoupé EMS 90 / 10 taken at the 2004 SKS convention.
Photo courtesy of Dick Cox.

Ndoupé EMS 90 / 10.
Photo courtesy of David Baker

  

KEK 98 / 25 - Small village north of Sanaga River. Collected January 1998 by Uwe Kaempf, Wolfgang Eberl & Andreas Kliesch.
In 1991 Wolfgang Eberl & Wolfgang Grell collected a few kms west of this location at CGE 91 / 13.

Log Bako'o - Originally mentioned in Amiet's 1987 book. The village is about 5km east of Pouma on the Axe Lourd road. On the EMS 90 collection Eberl et al found males of both A.amoenum & A.raddai in the same stream - EMS 90 / 9. A.amoenum was not brought back alive.
In this biotope were also found A.loennbergii & E.sexfasciatus.

Ndoupé - Type locality. Width of stream 1 - 5 metres, Water depth 10 - 30 cm. Water temperature 23·2°C, pH 6, Hardness ·75 DH or 10ppm. Dissolved oxygen content 6·8 mg/l.

Pouma (corrupted spelling as Puma) - A small town on the Axe Lourd. 52kms east of Edéa & 127kms west of Yaoundé.

Pouma taken at the 2003 BKA convention.

    

 

Sonbo - The first population to be distributed in the hobby. Also known as K 24/75. Type locality for A.amoenum. Rainforest stream 3·5kms north northeast from the turning from Sonbo (Song Mbong) to Bibang on the Edéa to Yaoundé road. Near the village of Ndoupé. This was on the old road or 'route ancienne'.
Type Locality

Ndoupé. Rainforest area 20 km west of Ovan & 3·5 km north-northeast of the junction of the Sonbo-Bibang (now Dibang) & the Edea-Yaounde Roads west of central Cameroon. A.georgiae were also found in this location. This is in the Kéllé / Nyong drainage.
Distribution

Small distribution area currently known between 32kms between Ngong Mkak & Mbanga (2015). Relict rainforest areas in brooks & the western rim of the Inland Plateau. A.amoenum is only 13 km west of the type locality of A.raddai, a sp. once thought to be closely related.
Replaced at the western area of distribution by A.edeanum, another species with a limited distribution area. These 2 species appear to in competition with each other. A.amoenum is the most northerly member of the A.cameronense group.
The known distribution area borders unexplored dense jungle which may increase the geographical are for this species.
A.amoenum is the only member of the A.cameronense group to have left the Inland Plateau. They also inhabit 2 drainages - Kellé / Nyong & Sanaga.
Habitat

The type locality was a rainforest brook water temperature 23·2°C, pH 6, DH 0·75.
Distinguishing Characteristics Heavy orange area from the caudal peduncle extending down the body a short distance. A.halleri has this orange area on the caudal peduncle but this extends further down the body to almost half way. A.halleri has an orange mouth area which is absent in A.amoenum. A.halleri has pale blue outer margins (at least in the photos I have seen). In A.amoenum this is yellow (in most specimens but can appear as pale blue).
The red pigment in the caual fin is arranged in lines which 'flare out' to the fins end (some populations show this more than others). In halleri this red pigment is more heavy blotches.
Colour/Pattern Variability Quite high considering the small distribution area.
History

Discovered by Radda & Pürzl on the 4th December 1975 at 9.10am at locality K 24/75.

The first reports I can find of imports to the UK are by Species Import Commitee in September 1980.

In 1981 Scheel published his findings on cytological studies on the sp. & regarded A.amoenum to be a sub sp. of A.raddai on the grounds of their close Karyotype. This view is not currently followed.

Up until 1989 the only population which sems to have been kept in the hobby is Sonbo. In July 1989 Legros Vlijm & Eberl collected the species at location C 89/22 (Nkonga).

In 1990 Wolfgang Eberl, Francisco Malumbres & Jorge San Juàn De Torres collected at EMS 90/8, 9 & 10. At around this time Vlijm et al collected the species.

In 1991 Grell & Eberl collected them at CGE 91/13

Breeding Notes

Not a very demanding sp. Keep them in the low 70's F & provide them with floating & submerged mops. Water incubation of 10-15 days has been reported.
Diameter of Egg  
Remarks

I have maintained this sp. on a number of occaisions & found them fairly easy to breed on the bottom level of my fish house.

Growth rate is a little slow & maturity can take 6-7 months.