After the collector R.B.H.Walker.

Boulenger G.A. 1911. (Fundulus walkeri).

Descriptions of new African Cyprinodont fishes.

Annals & Magazine of Natural History (8) 8 (44): p 262.

6 cm

• D = 14, A = 15-16, ll = 28-30 (Boulenger 1911)
• D = 13-14, A = 15-16, ll = 29-31 (Boulenger 1913)
• D = 14-16, A = 16-17, ll = 29-32 (Scheel 1968)
• D = 14-15, A = 16-17, ll = 31-32 +2-3 (Radda 1976)

• n = 18, A = 24 (Scheel 1972)
• n = 18, A = 35 (Scheel 1990)

Paraphyosemion

gardneri

• Fundulus walkeri Boulenger 1911
• Fundulus spurelli Boulenger 1913
• Nothobranchius walkeri Ahl 1924
• Fundulopanchax spurelli Meinken 1930
• Fundulus rubrofasciatus Brünning 1930
• Fundulopanchax rubrofasciatus Meinken 1930
• Aphyosemion spurelli Myers 1933
• Aphyosemion walkeri Pellegrin 1933
• Aphyosemion gardneri (non Boulenger 1911) Meder 1953
• Aphyosemion species Meinken 1960
• Aphyosemion rubrofasciatum Scheel 1968
• Aphyosemion sjoestedti (non Lonnberg 1895) Kluge 1970
• Aphyosemion litoriseboris Radda 1976
• Aphyosemion walkeri walkeri Berkenkamp 1976
• Aphyosemion walkeri spurelli Berkenkamp 1976
• Aphyosemion Gh2 / 74 Berkenkamp 1976
• Fundulopanchax walkeri Parenti 1981
• Aphyosemion walkeri litoriseboris Radda 1987
• Aphyosemion litoriseborus Wildekamp, Romand & Scheel 1987
• Aphyosemion (Paraphyosemion) walkeri Huber 1994

Populations

• Abidjan
• Agboville
• Akwatia
• Amama GH 96
• Babianalua (possibly a corruption of Bibianaha)
• Bibianaha
• Bibianaka (possibly a corruption of Bibianaha)
• Béko
• Bokitsa Mine
• Bonaki
• Bouaké
• Densu River
• Emokei
• Eri Makouguié II
• Grand Yapo
• Kumasi
• Kutunsé
• Lamto
• Neebio
• Ofumbo, Ivory Coast
• Yamoussokro
• Yapo-gare
• CI / S 45
• CI / S 49
• GH1 / 74 Kumasi
• GH2 / 74
• IR AS - Aquarium bred strain thought to be an accidental cross breed between the spurelli & walkeri lines.
  Stands for Ivo Rudický Aquarium Strain.

• Radda Collections 1977 -
• 9 - South of Grand Yapo ?
• 10 - Grand Yapo
• 11 - Between Eri Makouguié & Grand Yapo
• 12 - West of Agboville
• 13 - Offumpo, 20 kms west of Agboville

Bokitsa Mine near Wasa, southwestern Ghana.

The Bia, Tano, Ankobra & Oda River systems of southwestern Ghana & the Bandama, Comoe & Bia River systems in central, south & eastern Ivory Coast.

Coastal humid rainforest & forested savannah biotopes. Found in streams, pools & swamps. They are not considered to be an abundant sp. in the wild.
They have been found in ditches & holes which were very shallow. The bottom was covered with leaves, roots & dead wood which form a mulm. Water is soft & acid with a measured water temperature of 23-25°C.
Scheel in ROTOW 1 p415 considered spurelli to be a forest sp.
Sympatric sp. from Bokitsa Mine include E.chaperi & Archiaphyosemion petersi.
In other areas they have been found with E.chaperi & lampeyes Mic.pfaffi, Rhex.schioetzi, Poro.rancurelli with the possibility of Poro.normani also.

Scheel in ROTOW 1 p 416 reported that the description of walkeri was based on 3 specimens (probably females) collected at Bokitsa Mine, Wasa, Ghana by R.B.N.Walker. These are reported as being badly preserved & brown all over.

Boulenger gives the following collectors / locations in his 1915 Catalogue.

• 1-3 (Types). Collected at Bokitsa Mine (Wasa) by R.B.N.Walker & Dr.A.Günther.

Collected by L.Sheljuzhko in 1952 or 1953 (conflicting articles) in a pond, formed by a creek which ran out of impenetrable jungle at a location 85 km north of Abidjan towards Agboville. The water was very clear & he considered it may have been fed by a spring. He also found walkeri in surrounding ponds, creeks & ditches. All males from the first 2 collecting trips were packed in water from the biotope but all died in transit. Females too did little better & only a few reached there destination alive. He returned to the site & collected more males which were packed in local aged water. These fish were fed rare scrapped beef & arrived in good shape in Munich (AKA Journal December 1971). Foersch raised about 500 young. This population was said to resemble what we know of as the 'orange' strain circulating in the '80's. These were sent to Werner in Munich, Germany. An aquarium strain was established & they were known to have been distributed in Europe & the USA. They were reportedly soon to become extinct in captivity. This strain was known as 'Boulenger's gardneri'.

This old photo was taken by Dr.Walter Foersch around 1953 (possibly a little later) showing perhaps the first known photograph of the old 'spurelli' form. This was the form collected by Sheljuzhko 40 miles north of Abidjan. Imported to Germany by Werner of Munich. This form was identified as A.gardneri by Meinken in 1953 which lead to confusion in following years, This photo appeared in the 'Aquarium Journal' of May 1963 in an article by Joergen Scheel. This was a very fine publication.

In 1963 J.Arnoult collected a similar looking fish from the Agnebi River system, 85 km north of Abidjan, southeastern Ivory Coast. These were taken back to France. Bruce Turner received live fish from a contact in Ghana at this time & walkeri was again received in the USA. Both strains were reportedly similar. Scheel considered these to be identical with spurelli as written up by Boulenger in 1913.

First reports of there introduction into the UK comes in BKA Killi-News No.7 (March 1966) where, on the 17th January of the same year the then A.spurelli was brought over from a visiting German aquarist (unnamed). The sp. was regarded as not being in the country prior to this date. These fish were put into the NSPC (New Species Propagating Committee). Other sp. received from this contact included the then named A.cinnamomeum, A.'burundi' & Cyn.ladigesi.

On the 10th July 1970 the BKA received an import from David Blair in Ghana containing a few pairs of walkeri but no population name was given.

In 1974 Gerhard Schreiber collected the species near Kutunse & coded them GH 2 / 74. What is not generally known is that he also caught them at Kumasi & gave them the code GH 1 / 74. This code is shared by E.chaperi schreiberi although they were not taken out of the same collection point (personal comments Ed Pürzl / Gerhard Schreiber).

Radda collected this species in the Ivory Coast in December 1977

Ed Pürzl searched the Bokitsa Mine area in March 1978 but found no Fp.walkeri as this time of year is the dry season in this area.

History of the synonym Fundulus spurelli Boulenger 1913

Boulenger described this sp. in 1913 from 3 ( ? ) specimens collected by Dr.H.G.F.Spurrell in the Tano River, Gold Coast ( Scheel quotes 3 specimens in ROTOW 1 p 415 although Boulenger's
Catalogue quotes 5 ).

Fundulus spurelli figured in 'Freshwater Fishes of Africa' Boulenger, 1915.

In 1948 Daget reported spurelli from Boffa & Thia (Lower Guinée) & Kaoue & Velingara (Senegal). These localities were not considered to be valid for spurelli & he considered they may be Fundulosoma thirryi.
Sheljuzhko is reported to have collected spurelli in 1953 near Abidjan but Meinken identified these as gardneri. Meinken referred to Dietrich's arnoldi of 1915 which had been identified as gardneri by Boulenger in coming to this decision. This name stuck until 1963 where Scheel (ROTOW 1 p 430) pointed out that this strain was closer to spurelli than gardneri. This strain later became extinct although they were bred in Europe & the USA.

Boulenger gives the following collectors / locations in his 1915 Catalogue.

• 1-5 (Types). Collected by Dr.H.G.F.Spurrell in the Tano River, Gold Coast.

History of the synonym Aphyosemion litoriseboris Radda 1976

Described as Aphyosemion litoriseboris spec. nov. in a technical paper in the Journal of the AKA 20. p.301-305 by A.C.Radda November 1976.

Regarded as an easy species to breed. Bottom mops can be used as a spawning medium along with peat or sand. Eggs can be dry stored & have a dry incubation time of about 2-3 months. Water incubated eggs take about 3 weeks to hatch. Fry are capable of taking newly hatched brine shrimp eggs as a first food. Growth rate is fast with sexual maturity taking around 2 months.

A breeding report can be found in BKA newsletter No.81, May 1972. The breeder kept the pair in an 18 x 10 x 10" tank at 68-72°F, pH 6·8, German hardness 3-4°. A layer of peat fibre was used on the tank base for the pair to spawn in. They layed 25-30 eggs daily into this medium. The fish were seperated after 10 days of spawning.
Eggs were placed in clean water at 70°F & a few were seen to have fungussed. A second batch was put into peaty water with the result that no eggs went fungussed. These water incubated eggs took 6 weeks to hatch. Newly hatched brine shrimp & micro worm was fed as a first food.Two weeks later grindal worm & flake was taken. Eggs that were dry stored were wet after 15 weeks.

Foersch wrote a breeding report in the AKA Journal of December 1971 where he kept his fish in soft to medium hard water at a temperature between 68-74°F. He found that if maintained at higher temperatures they became susceptible to disease & aged faster. Mops were used for a spawning medium & he collected 100 eggs per pair daily. In a 3 week period he collected 613 eggs from a single pair. Females in good condition were capable of laying 40-50 eggs in the period of 2-3 hours.
Eggs were initially water incubated in shallow dishes. When kept at 65-68° F they took 35-42 days to hatch. When kept at 72-75°F they took 21-25 days to hatch.
Indinger observed that eggs could take a temperature drop down to 50°F for 12 hours without problems. Foersch later used a peat substrate as a spawning medium. A pair were put together in this setup for several hours up to a whole day. Males were hard drivers. The peat was taken out & dried to a slightly damp state. After a dry storage period of 5-6 weeks the peat was wet & fry hatched out. A second dry storage of the same period was used where more fry would emerge.
Fry were large & capable of taking newly hatched brine shrimp. Growth was rapid with spawning being observed after 8-10 weeks.

Huber (BKA newsletter No.210, February 1983) reported that adult size of 7cm can be reached in less than 6 months. This article is quite comprehensive on this sp.

The GH2 / 74 collection site is reported to have been buried under a local market.