Ed Purzl received this form as A.margaretae collected in the North of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fowler in 1936 described this sp. which is now considered a synonym of christyi.
Photo Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

After Dr. Cuthbert Christy a former director of the Congo Museum in Tervuren, Belgium..

Boulenger 1915.

Catalogue of the Freshwater Fishes of Africa in the British Museum (Natural History) Vol 3, London: 46.

5 cm

D = 10-11, A = 14-15, ll = 32-34 (Boulenger 1915)

D = 9-11, A = 14-16, ll = 27-30 (Radda & Pürzl 1987)

n = 9-18, A =18 (Huber & Scheel 1981, Scheel 1990). Chromosomes vary between populations. Eastern population tend to show n = 18 but western populations show n = 11.

Aphyosemion

elegans

• Haplochilus christyi Boulenger 1915
• Haplochilus elegans non Boulenger 1899; Nichols & Griscom 1917
• Haplochilus schoutedeni Boulenger 1920
• Panchax christyi Ahl 1924
• A.castaneum Myers 1924
• Aphyosemion christyi Myers 1933
• Aphyosemion schoutedeni Myers 1933
• A.margaretae Fowler 1936
• Panchax schoutedeni David & Poll 1937
• Aphyosemion singa (non Boulenger 1899); Dubois 1949
• Epiplatys singa (non Boulenger 1899); Poll 1952
• Aphyosemion elegans christyi Matthes 1964
• Aphyosemion NSC-2 Baker-Carr 1975
• Aphyosemion species Bangui. Fels 1979 (in part)
• Aphyosemion KCF-5. Fels 1979 (in part)
• Aphyosemion decorsei (non Pellegrin 1904); Huber 1980
• Aphyosemion polli Radda & Pürzl 1987

• Bafwasendé
• Bikoro - Lake Thumba
• Buta
• DDR Strain
• Gamboma
• Ibembo
• Kinshasa
• Kinshasa CI 03
• Kunungu
• Medje
• N'Kenni Ferry
• Silime
• Yangambi - Yeakama
• HZ 85 / 2 - Kisangani
• HZ 85 / 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 - East of Baswasendé
• KCF 5
• NSC 2

Bafwasende, on the Lindi River north of Kisangani, north east Zaire.

Now considered to be in the east of the Zaire drainage in the Ituri Forest region north east of Bafwassende.
Huber described their distribution as being restricted to elevations above 500 m over a distance of 180 km northeast of the type locality, Bafwasende.

Collected in shallow areas of brooks, small streams, pools & swampy areas. These biotopes may also contain aquatic plant life.

Originally described by Boulenger in 1915 from 10 specimens (collected by C.Christy) as Haplochilus christyi in the Lindi River which drains into the Zaire River a few kms west of Kisangani. These type specimens are deposited in the Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium and are labelled 'Bafwasende', a location some 200-250 kms northeast of Kisangani.
In 1924 Myers described a new sp. caught at Stanleyville (Kisangani) & Medje in the northern Congo basin as Aphyosemion castaneum which he used as the holotype for the Genus Aphyosemion.

Boulenger gives the following collector / location in his 1915 Catalogue.

• 1-10 (Types). Collected in the Lindi River by Dr.C.Christy.

Hoedeman reports them being imported into Belgium in 1947 & 1948. These were imported under the name Aphyosemion singa.

Scheel in ROTOW 1 refers to their being kept as aquarium fish since 1949. These first imports were said to have originated from Leopoldville & had few spots on sides.

In 1930 Pellegrin found the same fish at Liboumbi but it was not until 1952 that Poll gave the fish its present name of A.christyi. Haplochilus christyi & A.christyi were found at the same location in the Lindi River (sometimes quoted in literature as Lundi) drainage near Stanleyville (Kisangani). They were first reportedly imported to Belgium in 1951 from Leopoldville.
P.Depasse collected 5 specimens in the Epulu River at Camp Putnam

In the UK the first documented import I can find dates back to the summer of 1938 where Fred Wright (a previous BKA Technical Editor) received a pair which had come from Germany that year. (BKA newsletter No.66, February 1971). These were reportedly identical to the 'cognatum' being distributed in 1971. This newsletter contains a b/w photo by Roloff of 'A.schoutedeni'.

In 1949 Aquarium Hamburg received a shipment containing this sp. which were identified as 'Aphyosemion singa'. Several years later another import was received which had fewer red spots on the fins & body. This was considered a yellow variation. Basic outlines of these fish with descriptions can be found in the Aquarium Journal April 1962 in an article by Bruce Turner & Albert Klee.

First importation into the USA was in the early 1950's.

Known to be in the BKA in December 1966 when fish were sent from Australia. No population was given but it was described as being 'a striking little fish, body reflecting blue with a lined pattern of chestnut brown, made up of rows of spots, yellow fins edged at times with a bold pattern of these spots again' (BKA newsletter No.16, December 1966.

The BKA had an import described as christyi in October 1974 from Kinshasa. These were said to resemble the photo on page 157 of ROTOW 1.

Geoff Wood caught A.christyi in the 1970's at Kinsuka although these fish were distributed as Kinshasa. The true location was 13 km downstream from Kinshasa & about 1 km from the river. These were reportedly very colourful being blue/green in colouration. Later generations seemed to lose the original colouration. This population was only found in one small location. Red markings were found to be variable.

In 1986 T.Roberts & L.de Vos collected an Aphyosemion sp. near the Epulu River ferry.

The Kinshasa population was originally brought to the UK by Geoff Wood but has since disappeared. Now & again A.christyi Kinshasa is distributed from commercial imports. The collection point should be taken with a 'pinch of salt' as there is no guarantee as to where they were caught. Kinshasa is the airport of departure used for these fish. The photo below of 'Wild Import 1998' was such a collection. These collections show a large blue/purple area between the eye & mid body section.

Emmanuel Vreven made collections in the Okapi Faunal Reserve.

History of the synonym A.schoutedeni (Boulenger 1920)

Boulenger described this sp. in 1920 from material collected from the Medje River which is an affluent of the Ituri River, northeast Congo.
In 1952 Poll reported that this sp. was known from the Central Congo drainage and 'individuals from the Leopoldville area had very few red spots on the sides, compared to other local populations in the Congo' (ROTOW 1 p 374). He also mentions that this sp. was imported into Germany & had been distributed as E.singa.
Poll, also in 1952 reported the sp. from Buta, Bambesa, Ibembo, Kunugu, Lisala, Monga, Mongende, Stanleyville & Yangambi. These localities fall into the north-northeastern area of the Central Congo (Zaire) drainage.
In 1959 Poll reported them from Leopoldville. Lambert, in 1961 considered the sp. to represent a synonym of A.christyi & commented that A.christyi was a phenotype having 'very many red spots' whereas the A.schoutedeni phenotype had 'very few such spots' (ROTOW 1 p 374).
A population from Leopoldville was imported as an aquarium fish in 1949 & distributed as E.singa. These produced a stable aquarium strain. Scheel maintained this form & commented that they bred true except for the yellow colouration in the un-paired fins (anal fin in particular) which was absent in some males of younger generations.
Their is some controversy regarding which sp. A.schoutedeni should be a synonym of. Some authors prefer to place it as a synonym of A.decorsei.

History of the synonym A.margaretae Fowler 1936

Collected in 1934 on the George Vanderbilt expedition to Africa.
Described by Fowler in 1936 from 2 specimens collected near Saidi's Village, Irumu - Avakubi road some 10 miles west of the Epulu River ferry in the Kibali - Ituri districts, former Belgian Congo. This location was 2800 feet above sea level. This location was a clearing in dense & very tall rain forest. There were also other clearings in the area which were starting to revert back to forest with young tree growth. This primeval forest was said to reach 200 feet high ( 3 - 16th September 1934).
Meristics given in the original description were D=9-10, A=13-14, ll=25-26 (+3).
A line drawing can be found in Scheel's ROTOW 1 page 292.
Poll, in 1952, considered the described specimens to be juveniles or females, & preferred to put them closer to ferranti.
Lambert mentions the populations from Yangambi & Ibembo to have red stripes running horizontally similar to A.lujae.
Lambert in 1961 also found a population at Nyangwe, southeast Zaire.
Huber & Scheel considered them to be A.christyi after examining the type material.

Geoff Wood in BKA newsletter No. 114, February 1975 made reference to the eggs being prone to fungus & cleanliness was important. Fry hatched in 18 - 24 days & were small. He did find it advantageous to seperate the sexes periodically.

Eggs take the usual 12-14 days to water incubate but may be semi-dry stored for 3 weeks on wet peat.
This sp. is reportedly susceptible to sudden changes in water hardness. Also, if they are put into old water they do not grow on well. Growth is slow even in good conditions & you can expect 9 months to go by before they reach adulthood (although some books give maturity at 6 months).
Parents are said to be avid egg eaters although I have collected regular daily egg yields of respectable size.

John Buytaert wrote an article in the Belgian association newsletter which was reprinted in BKA newsletter No.158, October 1978. He mentioned that this sp. was more difficult to maintain.
He spawned them in mops & peat fibre. Water stored eggs take about 14 days to hatch. He reported better results using the dry storage method of leaving the eggs in peat fibre. Hatching occured after 3 weeks. Young fish are sensitive to sudden water changes & don't grow well in old water. It was recommended not to raise more than 20 in each batch.
It was felt that 9 months were needed to see this sp. reach full size.

See also A.elegans for some useful tips on breeding this sp.