A.bitaeniatum Benin.
Photo Courtesy of Ed Pürzl
Meaning of Name |
After the 2 horizontal stripes down the body. |
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First Description |
Ahl E. 1924. Neue afrikanische Zahnkarpfen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Berlin. Zoologischer Anzeiger 61 (3-4): 141. |
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Size |
4 cm. |
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Meristics |
D = 9-10, A = 12, ll = 27-28. (Ahl 1924) D = 9-14, A = 11-15, D/A = 1/2, ll = 24-28. (Scheel) |
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Karyotype |
18-20 (31). Reportedly variable at population level. |
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Sub-Genus |
Chromaphyosemion |
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Group |
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Synonyms |
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Populations
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Afangasam -
Afanyangan - Situated 8 kms west of Afanyangan. Collected by Marsan, Bousseau and Bousseau in 1990 (TMBB 90/13).
Agbetiko - Collection from this location coded RT 97 & was collected by Tilo Böhme in 1997. Located 30 kms from the coast near the Togo/Benin border.
Agome-Klozou -
Benin - Patrick de Rham collected this population in water with a temperature of 30°C. Collected near Zagnanado, 100 metres from the coast & 50 kms from the Nigerian border. Rudolf Pohlmann noted his first fish had yellow anal fins but these came out blue in the young. Godomey, suburb of Cotonou - Slightly dark water & soft. Not lagoon type water. Water temp 30° C. Found near bankside vegetation. Sympatric sp. include Cichlid sp. Ijaguna River - A mistake in lierature is the spelling Ijagema. Also, this population may have been distributed as Ijebu Ode. Collected 18th December 1999 by T.Schulz on the road from Lagos through Epie & Yemoji towards Ijebu Ode, turn left to Ijaguna. The road crosses the Ijaguna River. From this road Ijebu Ode can be seen approx 1 km away. The road from Yemoji to Ijebu Ode and the freeway run on along the ridge.
Ijebu Creek (Yemoji River) - Collected October 1998 by T.Schulz. Fish were given to Rudolf Pohlmann for breeding. Situated midway between Epe & Ijebu Ode near Yemoji. At the Yemoji river the fish were found in beds of 'floating weeds'. Fish were collected in 2 locations 100 metres apart but were mixed up. It was not possible to seperate females. Rudolf found through 5 years of breeding the fish would have either blue or orange anal fins.
Ijebu Odé - Often seen with large extended fins. A dark area can sometimes be seen in the throat & belly regions.
Lagos - A common name usually
attached to shipments originating from the city. We
found a red form in these shipments & sorted out females which
bred true. These we called TAAG Red some years ago but you can also
find similar red forms called Lagos Red.
Majitam - I received this information from Norm Ruebsamen 26/10/03.. Regarding A.bitaeniatum Majitam. As far as I know, this fish was first introduced in the US in last year's new and rare at the WAKO show. I still have the name of the gentlemen who supplied them. He is a breeder / collector in Japan. If there is a naming problem, it probably occurred when he translated the African location to Japanese and then to English. It has always been my policy never to change the name of a fish that is labeled, unless the "experts" decide it should be changed.
Meko - Collected in small
streams & irrigation ditches in very shallow water. These waterways
were silted & had heavy plant growths, water grasses & floating
plant. An average reading in the area was pH 6·3, DH 1 but
this was found to vary slightly in the area. Onitsha, Oba - Discovered
by the Dutchman Henk Alders. The journey took place in 2004 and has
the code NA 04/2 (Nigeria, Alders, 2004). The site is located approximately
7 kms from the town of Onitsha and the Niger River. This is about
200 kms to the coast, towards Port Harcourt.
Port Novo (just north of) - Water flowing with a clear tea colour. Sand or mud base with calm spots. Water temperature 28-30°C, Conductivity 54 micosiemens, DH ·5, pH 5·8. Collected by Patrick de Rham. TAAG Red - Found in a commercial import from Lagos. We called it TAAG Red as it was more intense red than others in the shipment.
Umudike - Clausen collected the fish in 1956. Scheel also collected here in 1962 & it is thought this was the last time the fish were collected from this location.
Zagnanado - Collected in muddy ponds.
Bioko Island - A comercial
import into Spain in 1995 brought about a lot of confusion as it was
understood to have been collected on the Island. The fish strongly resembled
A.bitaeniatum from Nigeria despite
reports that only A.splendopleure
are endemic to the island. After some investigations it was made clear
that fish (A.oeseri & maybe
some A.splendopleure) were collected
on the island & shipped to Nigeria for export from Lagos. At this
time more fish were added to the shipment collected locally so A.bitaeniatum
were mixed up. The A.bitaeniatum
may be seen in the hobby as 'Bioko Island' or 'CI 95'. A.C.Rodriguez
considered it to be close to the Ijebu Ode bitaeniatum.
For reference see BKA newsletter
No.406, July 1999. |
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Type Locality |
Given as 'Niger' (Niger River in southern Nigeria), exact location unknown. |
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Distribution |
From southern Togo across southern Nigeria &
into Cameroon. |
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Habitat |
Small brooks & streams in coastal rainforest.
Some locations are brackish coastal lagoons. Restricted to sedimentary
soils derived from the Quarterniary period.Generally a marshy habitat
with higher temperatures. Sympatric sp. include E.sexfasciatus, Hemichromis cf.bimaculatus, Thysia cf.ansorgii (Godomey, suburb of Cotonou). |
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Distinguishing Characteristics | Dorsal fin is an orange/red with numerous small red or green dots. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Colour/Pattern Variability | High. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History |
An obscure start. Ahl used four specimens to describe Fundulus bitaeniatus in 1924. These were obtained 'from aquarists & a professional breeder, Matte of Berlin' (ROTOW 1). Introduced as an aquarium fish in 1908 according to Arnold. These were said to have originated from Warri, western Niger Delta. This population was originally described under Fundulus bivittatus. History of the synonym Fundulopanchax multicolor Meinken 1930 Meinken described this species in 1930
using a pair plus one live male. His article describing the species
(Two new Fundulopanchax species from Cameroon) stated that these fish
came from Cameroon, but in a further article stated that the type specimens
were collected by Griem of Hamburg at Ajakapulka which is situated near
Lagos, Nigeria. History of the synonym Aphyosemion (Fundulopanchax) nigri Ahl 1935 Ahl described this species in 1935 from a single specimen reportedly collected from the mouth of the Niger River. This was given to Ahl by Siggelkow. The type specimen was kept in the Berlin Museum but was reportedly not examined by other zoologists. This specimen is presumed to have been lost now. The caudal fin was reported to be trilobate History of the synonym Fundulus rubrostictus Ahl 1928 Ahl described this sp. from 3 specimens
he received from Matte who reported them as being from the Niger Drainage.
Matte was a professional fish breeder & not a collector. |
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Breeding Notes |
A breeding report in BKA newsletter No. 134,
October 1976 stated that the sp. was easily bred. A tank was set up
with plenty of floating Indian Fern (Ceratopteris)
to help keep the water clean. Top mops were added & 80% of the eggs
were found in them. Oliver Legros in BKA Killinews No.326, November
1992 reports fry hatch in 12-13 days. Fry are small. Lateral bands are
visible at 6 weeks with sexing out at 3 months. Fish being able to breed
at 4-5 months.
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Diameter of Egg | This sp. lays small eggs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remarks |
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