Fundulopanchax gardneri lacustris (Radda 1974)

Lake Ejagham. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Meaning of Name

After lacustris meaning to come from the lake (Ejagham).

First Description

Radda A.C. 1974 (Aphyosemion gardneri lacustre).

Studien zur Cytogenetik, Taxonomie und Verbreitung der 'Gardneri-Gruppe' der Gattung Aphyosemion (Osteichthyes: Cyprinodontidae) aus dem südlichen Westkamerun.

Jahrbuch des Naturhistorisches Museum der Stadt Bern 5: p 4-6. figure 1B, 3.

Size

54 mm (according to first description).

Meristics

D = 15-16, A = 15-17, D/A = +3-4, ll = 31-32 +2-3 (Radda 1974)

Karyotype
  • Male 2n = 37 (Radda 1974)
  • Female 2n = 39 (Radda 1974)
Sub-Genus

Paraphyosemion

Group

gardneri

Synonyms
  • Aphyosemion gardneri subspecies No.2 Radda 1973
  • Aphyosemion gardneri lacustre Wright 1973 (nomen nudum)
  • Aphyosemion gardneri lacustre Radda 1974
  • Aphyosemion obuduense lacustre Kottelat 1976
  • Aphyosemion lacustre Huber 1977
  • Fundulopanchax gardneri lacustris Lazara 1984
  • Aphyosemion (Paraphyosemion) gardneri lacustre Huber 1994
  • Aphyosemion gardneri (Cameroon). (From a BKA I/P).
Populations
  • Lake Ejagham
  • C89 / 5 - Lake Ejagham

Lake Ejagham - Lake Ejagham is situated just south of Eymojok. It is treated by local peoples as a sacred lake supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of past ancestors. It lies at the centre of 13 salt springs. Ejagham is split into 3 words - “Ekub” (a whole or parcel), “Ejag” (is split or broken), ‘ Haam” (is infinite or without end). Basically refers to a splitting of the local tribe which is striving for reunification.
Reportedly a crater caused by a meteorite but more likely formed by glacier action many years ago. Also called a 'solution lake' made up from groundwater. This is not a volcanicly formed lake. Size is about 1 km in diameter & 18 metres deep. The lake has no inflow but a single outflow into the Manaya River which is part of the Cross River drainage. The Manaya has a waterfall making it impossible for fish to migrate into the lake from this water course.
Rainfall from May - August, tailing off in September. A dry period from October to April causes outlying pools to dry up. This is a 7 month dry period.
Collected by A.C.Radda in 1970 in drying pools in an outlet from Lake Ejagham.
Collected by Wolfgang Eberl, Oliver Legros & Bas Vlijm, July 1989 ( C 89 / 5 )
Pools prone to drying out formed by outlet streams from the Lake.
Other fish known to be collected commercially from the lake for the hobby include - Tilapia 'Little Black', Tilapia 'Jewel'.
Blue phase. Variable in spots on body & submarginal bands in unpaired fins. Most uniform characteristic appears to be the dorsal fin, having a pale blue marginal band with a red submarginal band but this is not seem on all individuals.

Lake Ejagham. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

 

 

C 89 / 5 - Collected by Wolfgang Eberl, Oliver Legros & Bas Vlijm, July 1989 in a stream found by walking through an experimental plantation & along a hard to follow trail for 500 metres. Ten pairs of young fish were collected. Other fish found were cichlids & barbs.

C 89 / 5 - Lake Ejagham
Photo taken by kind permission from Werner Eigelshofen's site.

   


Radda's 1970's Collections - I am placing these photos here mainly because they looked very similar & also the time the photos were taken.

Lake Ejagham. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Lake Ejagham. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Lake Ejagham. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

This form circulated in the BKA early 1980's but proved difficult to breed. It may be a decendant of Radda's collection in 1970.

  

This photo taken by Bob Heap about 1976 showing the form introduced into the BKA as Aphyosemion gardneri 'Cameroon'
This may be a descendant of Radda's collection in 1970.
BKA Photo.


http://home8.swipnet.se/%7Ew-86183/english.htm Alf & Anita's site

Type Locality

An outlet of Lake Ejagham near Eyoumojok in the Ossidinge area.They were found in small pools of a drying tributary.

Distribution

Restricted to the area of Lake Ejagham, western Cameroon.

Habitat

Small pools, streams & brooks originating from Lake Ejagham. Some of these pools are most likely to be seasonal.

Distinguishing Characteristics Easily distinguished from other gardneri forms. The basic body colouration is green. The red spots on the body are small & are arranged in broken lines. This is perhaps the least colourful of all gardneri forms.
Colour/Pattern Variability Low.
Scheel in ROTOW II described the anal fin as being greenish yellow to orange which may exhibit a row of small red spots in the basal area.
History

Found in 1970 by A.C.Radda in pools of a drying outlet of Lake Ejagham.

Breeding Notes

This is perhaps the most difficult of all the gardneri sub-species to breed. Some reports suggest that this type is best spawned in cool water while others suggest that they only spawn at certain times of the year. I must admit defeat with this one, having tried many years ago. All attempts to spawn them ended in defeat & I decided to pass them on to a fellow killie keeper to see if they would do better in his water.
Reports suggest that two forms have been known to be in the hobby, a blue form which was found to be easier to breed, & a green form which proved more difficult. The form circulating in the BKA during the early '80's did have a green body colouration as can be seen in the photo at the top of this page.

They are regarded as more of an annual than most 'gardneri' with eggs taking 4 weeks of semi-dry storage to hatch. Fred Wright observed that most of those hatching in this period were observed to be males in BKA newsletter No.100, December 1973. It was noted that if this peat was left submerged in water for a further period the hatching fry turned out to be mostly females.

Alan Green bred this subsp. in the '80's in 2' (60 cm) deep tanks but had few eggs. Water temperature approx. 73°F.

Diameter of Egg 1.3 mm
Remarks

I have never been comfortable with the view that the Lake Ejagham gardneri are all lacustre but I put all these photos on this page for now.