Aphyosemion lefiniense Woeltjes 1984

A.lefiniense Brazzaville distributed as A.spec.Brazzaville around 1979/80.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Meaning of Name

After the Lefini River, (or the village La Lefini) the area of the type locality.

First Description

Woeltjes T. 1984.

Aphyosemion lefiniense spec. nov. (Pisces, Atheriniformes, Rivulinae) aus dem Lefini Subsystem des Kongo-Flusses in der Volksrepublik Kongo.

DKG Journal 16 (1): 3-14, 6 figures, 2 maps.
Size

5 cm
Meristics

D = 8-10, A = 13-16, D/A = +9-11, ll = 27-30(+2-3) (Woeltjes 1984).
Karyotype

 
Sub-Genus

Aphyosemion
Group

elegans
Synonyms
  • Aphyosemion aff. elegans 'Brazzaville' Sainthouse 1980
  • Aphyosemion cognatum 'Lefini' Woeltjes 1983
  • Aphyosemion schioetzi lefiniense Radda & Pürzl 1987
Populations
  • Brazzaville (Aquarium strain)
  • Léfini (eastern Congo)
  • Maluke (western Zaire)(A.aff. lefiniense)
  • CHP 82 / 15 - Type Locality
  • CI 96

A.lefiniense Wild caught fish from the Lefini River
Photo courtesy of Serge Mevellec

Female from Lefini River collected with the above males.
Photo courtesy of Serge Mevellec

Brazzaville
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

A.lefiniense Brazzaville. This was almost certainly a brother of the fish on the left as Ian gave fish to Mel to photograph. Taken in 1980 this is the true A.sp.Brazzaville as circulated in the BKA at this time.
Photo. courtesy of Ian Sainthouse.

A.lefiniense Brazzaville. This fish distributed in the BKA in 1980 as A.spec.Brazzaville.
Photo. Mel Addicott. BKA photo

Photo courtesy of Maurice Chauche & the KCF website.

A.spec.Brazzaville - First reported in BKA literature in BKA newsletter 180, August 1980. Maintained in Europe originally in 1979 but crossed the channel into the UK around 1979/80. They were originally known as A.aff.elegans Brazzaville but were distributed in the UK as A.spec.Brazzaville. This population was recognised by having large yellow outer margins in unpaired fins. UK breeders found them easy to breed & they were listed in the Species Maintenance Programme of 1980/81 by 3 members. Sex ratio was reported to be 3-4 to 1 in favour of males.
Young males start to become recognisable after 3 months. First indications appear as lines on the top & bottom edges of the caudal fin. It takes another 2 months before full colouration is attained. The yellow outer margins being the last to develop.
This was regarded as a nervous/shy fish.
After lengthy research Internationally I am of the opinion that this form is not currently in the hobby (3rd April 2002).

CI 96 - Perhaps the most widespread population from a commercial import. Still doing well in mainland Europe in 2002.

La Léfini - Type location (see below).

Type Locality CHP 82 / 15. Close to the village of La Lefini situated immediately south of the Lefini River. A small pool next to a fast flowing brook 200 km north of Brazzaville, eastern Congo.
This locality was small ponds about 15 cm deep & 1·5 metres square. These ponds lied alongside a fast flowing stream 2 metres deep which eventually emptied into the Lefini River.
The bed of these ponds was covered with leaves.
Also collected was E.multifasciatus. This locality was designated the code reference CHP 82/15. This locality (apart perhaps from sp.Brazzaville) is the only known wild collection where an exact point of capture can be established (2002)
Distribution

Although they are only known from the type locality a similar Aphyosemion has been collected southeast of Kinshasa. Also, the population called 'Brazzaville' (collected west of Brazzaville?) which is considered as an aquarium strain, may also be A.lefiniense. This was collected 30 km to the west of Brazzaville.
Habitat

Presently only known from a small pool next to a fast flowing brook. This may be a flood pool for this river.
Distinguishing Characteristics The caudal fin is noticeably more elongate than other species in the group. The Lefini population has wide red sub-marginal bands in the un-paired fins.
Also, this sp. has wide yellow outer margins to unpaired fins of adult males. This is also a characteristic of the fish known as 'sp.Brazzaville'.
Colour/Pattern Variability Presently low but this may alter if their area of distribution is found to be larger.
Easily seperated from others in the elegans group by the elongated caudal fin. This is also common in christyi but with lefiniense there is a wide outer margin of yellow with a submarginal band of red which variea in thickness between individuals to the point where it can be quite thick (sometimes thicker than the outer band. This red band may be virtually absent in some individuals. Paratype No.4 has no red band in the anal fin & a very broken band in the caudal. Paratype No.6 has a strong showing of red bands in both fins.
History

Discovered by Jan Pap & Huub Heltzel in 1982 about 200 km from Brazzaville near the village of La Lefini.

Collected later in 2005 by members of MRAC (Royal Museum of Central Africa).
Breeding Notes

Regarded as one of the more difficult species of the elegans group to breed. Permanent setups have been used successfully, netting young fish out of the breeding tank & growing them on in seperate aquaria. Water incubation is 12-14 days. Sexual maturity is slow at around 7 months.

Diameter of Egg  
Remarks

In future re-classifications A.lefiniense may find itself a synonym of A.schioetzi.