Callopanchax sidibeorum Sonnenberg R. & Busch E. 2010

Photos reproduced by permission of the papers authors. Photos taken by Eckhard Busch.

Meaning of Name

After local collectors - the Sidibe family - Mr Samba Sidibe.
First Description

Sonnenberg R. & Busch E. 2010

Description of Callopanchax sidibei (Nothobranchiidae: Epiplateinae), A New Species of Killifish from Southwestern Guinea, West Africa.

Bonn zoological Bulletin, volume 57, Issue 1, pp 3-14, April 2010.
Size

59·9mm SL (holotype 58·5mm)
Meristics

D=19-21, A=17-19, C=29-34, D/A=-2--4, ll=32-34+3-5.
Karyotype
Sub-Genus

Group

Synonyms
  • Roloffia sp.Guinea, CI 92: Busch (1993), p. 64.
  • Fundulopanchax species aff. toddi: Wildekamp (1996), pp. 212–213.
  • Callopanchax sp. Guinea: Wildekamp & Van der Zee (2003), pp. 381–383.
  • Callopanchax huwaldi (non Berkenkamp & Etzel, 1980):
  • Neumann (2005), misidentification in fig. caption p. 48 (DKG-Killifisch-Lexikon. Deutsche Killifisch Gemeinschaft, Supplementheft Nr. 8 (2005/2006), 188 pp).
  • Callopanchax sidibei Sonnenberg R. & Busch E
Populations
  • GM 97/2, Bombokoré, Guinea
   
Type Locality

Bombokoré, GM 97/2, Guinea.
Guinée maritime, Kindia region, small river and adjacent pools and ditches in a secondary forest (9°32.71’ N, 13°14.51’ W), close to the small village Bombokoré, about 3 km from the closest larger village Fandi, collection locality GM 08/2, E. Busch and B. Wiese, 5.10.2008. (from original paper).
Distribution

Currently only known from the type locality.
Habitat

Collected from a depression in the ground with areas of standing water connected by ditches in secondary forest. Water is slow flowing & areas of stagnation occur.
In 1997 Busch measured - air temperature 36°C, water temperature in creeks was 27°C & in ditch areas 29°C, pH 5·2, conductivity
10 µs. Depth of water in ditches was 20-30cm. Clear water over a sandy base with some stones & a layer of decaying leaves & wood. No aquatic vegetation observed. Herbaceous plants found around edges.
Prefers slow moving or stagnant water which i sares with E.fas.fasciolatus.
Sympatric sp include Epiplatys fas.fasciolatus & Script.geryi but this later sp. was found on its own in areas of grassland with no leaf cover.

In 2008 a collection found - air temperature was 31°C, water temperature was 27°C, water depth 60-80cm. The collectors noted fish could be collected from jueveniles to adults whereas the collection in 1997 yielded only fully grown adults.

Some adults may migrate from drying pools into main ditch areas.
Distinguishing Characteristics Seperated from C.monroviae by an extra ray in the dorsal fin.
Colouration & pattern differences exist within the sp.
Colour/Pattern Variability Although known from a small area only the photos in the original paper suggest some variability. Anal fins in males can be clear turquoise or with a few red spots near the body. The body has variable amounts of red blotches distributed randomly. Caudal fin does show the red submarginal band to end at the rear of this fin (as in most Aphyosemion sp.) or closed around the ending edge forming a crescent.
History

Discovered in a commercial shipment to the Nederlands in 1992. Busch, Wildekamp & Van der Zee all printed articles on this new fish along with Murphy et al (1999) with a molecular study. Eckhard Busch made several collecting trips to the collection site to collect specimens.
First collection by European hobbyists in 1997 (Busch).
Collected again in 2008 & 2009.

In a paper entitled - Erratum to: Sonnenberg & Busch (2010) Description of Callopanchax sidibei (Nothobranchiidae: Epiplateinae), a new species of killifish from southwestern Guinea, West Africa
Rainer Sonnenberg 1,2 & Eckhard Busch 3
1 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany;
Corresponding author; E-mail: r.sonnenberg.zfmk@uni-bonn.de
2 Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionsbiologie, August-Thienemann-Strasse 2, D-
Erroneously the name of the new species was formed as a noun in genitive case for a single male person (ICZN, Article 31.1.2), however, in the text it refers to:
.....The new species is named after Mr. Samba Sidibe and his family.... (Sonnenberg & Busch 2010, p. 11, bold introduced here for clarification).
Therefore the species name should be formed in plural with the ending -orum.
In accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th Edition, 1999), Article 32, we propose as correct species name Callopanchax sidibeorum.
Breeding Notes

Little data yet on this sp. but egg incubation is thought to range from 2-9 months.
Diameter of Egg
Remarks

Data originally supplied by Rainer Sonnenberg from the original paper.

My sumation - The holotype has a larger lower outer margin in the caudal fin reminiscent of C.monroviae. The paratype shown in the photo within the paper shows this to a lesser degree but may be a younger fish.
The authors distinguish this sp. from C.monroviae by the extra ray in the dorsal fin & certain colouration differences. It is interesting that a whole country (Sierra Leonne) seperates the distribution ranges of these species.
Nearest species to the genus is C.cf.toddi with C.toddi distributed to the northwest & southeast sandwiching the biotope of C.sidibei.