After the French ichthyologist Dr.Jacques Géry.

Lambert J.G. 1958

Poissons Siluriformes et Cyprinodontiformes, récoltés en Guinée française avec la description d'une nouvelle espèce de Microsynodontis.

Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 57 (1-2):52-53, figure 6.

5 cm (8 cm has been reported).

• D = 13-15, A = 16-17, D/A = +3-6, ll = 31-34 (Lambert 1958
• D = 12-15, A = 15-18, ll = 28-31 (Radda & Pürzl 1987)

n = 20, A = 21 (Scheel 1974; Romand 1981)

liberiense

• Aphyosemion guineense geryi Lambert 1958
• Aphyosemion roloffi (non Roloff 1936) Daget 1960
• Aphyosemion liberiense (non Boulenger 1908) Daget 1961
• Roloffia geryi Bech 1968
• Aphyosemion geryi Wiefel et al. 1968
• Aphyosemion (Callopanchax) geryi Radda 1970

Populations

• Abuko (Gambia)
• Assirik - ? 07 / 01
• Barmoi (Sierra Leone)
• Barrasikale
• Battabut (Gambia)
• Bintang (Gambia)
• Bintimodia
• Boffa
• Boké
• Boutonya (Sierra Leone)
• Brikama (Gambia)
• Bwiam (Gambia)
• Cassamance (Senegal)
• Conakry (southeastern Guineé)
• Coyah (Guineé)
• Dandayah
• Déola
• Dubreka (Guineé)
• Farmoraeya (Guineé) Farmoreya ?
• Gaoual
• Gbalayah (Sierra Leone)
• Gbessia (Guineé) corrupted Ghessia ?
• Gobi
• Jakombi
• Jattaba (Gambia)
• Kamalon River
• Kamara Bounyl (possibly Bounyi)
• Kambia (Sierra Leone)
• Kamsar
• Kerfay
• Kenema (Sierra Leone)
• Kertay (Sierra Leone)
• Koba (Guineé)
• Kogon (Guinea Bissau)
• Kolayire
• Kolda Tamaf
• Kolente River (Guineé)
• Lisso
• Mabusi
• Mafundi
• Magbosi (Sierra Leone)
• Makeni (Sierra Leone)
• Malai
• Mamampo
• Mamanka (Sierra Leone)
• Masa (SLCD 84/23)
• Masheineh (Sierra Leone)
• Masiaka
• Masine Swamp (SLCD 84/12)
• Mola
• Ndyarendi (Guinea Bissau)
• Porto Loko
• Robis I (Sierra Leone)
• Rokupr
• Rotain (Sierra Leone)
• Rotamp (Sierra Leone)
• Sud (south) Gaoual
  
• Tanéné
• Tinquilinta
• Thia (Tiya?) (Guineé)
• Ufule - GBMR 08 / 08
• Voile de la Marie
• Woleya
• CI 93 (BKA code)
• GCLR 06 / 12 - South Gaoual
• RL 28

Abuko - Collected by Froelich in 1973.
Collected by Brown in 1983. Abuko is an area of Gambia which includes the Abuko National Park.
Barmoi - Collected by Roloff in 1965.
Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Battabut - Collected by Rust in 1974.
Collected by Neumann in 1982.
Bintang - Collected by Eggers in 1978.
Boutonya - Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Brikama - Collected by Froelich in 1972.
Bwiam - Collected by Eggers in 1978.
Cassamance - A reference to this population was found in BKA newsletter No.249, May 1986 as being a recent introduction. Also later seen as a commercial import by Marcinelle / Belgien. Reported by Etzel & Berkenkamp 1989.
Conakry - The type locality was collected by Lambert et al in 1955.
Collected by Kretzschmar in 1966.
Coyah - Possibly collected by Romand in 1979.
Farmoreya - Unknown collector & year of collection.
Dubreka - Collected by Lambert et al in 1955.
Gbalayah - Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Gbessia - Collected by Romand et al in 1975. Known to be in the BKA in 1986.
Jattaba - Collected by Eggers in 1978.
Kambia - Unknown collector & year of collection.
Kenema - Collected by Roloff in 1965.
Kertay - Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Koba - Collected by Daget in 1964.
Kogon - Collected by Teugels in 1992.
Kolente - This population found in a commercial import in 1985.
Kolente River - Collected by Daget in 1964.
Magbosi - Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Makeni - Unknown collector & year of collection.
Mamampo - Known to be in circulation in the BKA in 1986.
Mamanka - Collected by Busch & Hellner in 1989 (SL 89 code).
Masheineh - Collected by Busch & Wiese in 1993 (SL 93 code).
Ndyarendi - Collected by Teugels in 1992.
Porto Loko - Collected by Fred Wright in 1975.
Robis 1 - Collected by Etzel & Kessel in 1975. This population was predominantly red. Collected by Busch & Hellner in 1989 (SL 89 code) (Robis 1)
Rotain - Collected by Busch & Hellner in 1989 (SL 89 code).
Rotamp - Collected by Roloff in 1965.
Thia - Collected by Daget in 1964.

The Conakry - Dubreska district of Lower Guinee.

Widespread distribution area from an area around the mouth of the Gambia River south to the Porto Loko region of southeastern Sierra Leone.

Small well shaded coastal savannah brooks & streams.

Taken in 1989 in the area of Abuko.
Photo courtesy of Roger Gladwell.

Taken in 1993 in the area of Abuko.
Photo courtesy of Roger Gladwell.

A crocodile pond at Abuko. Photo taken in 2003.
Photo courtesy of Roger Gladwell.

Lambert described this species in 1958 from 20 specimens caught in the Conakry - Dubreska district of Lower Guinee.

Roloff caught them in 1962 in Sierra Leone & in 1965 supplied Scheel with material from Kenema.

In October 1967 (at the end of the dry season) Kuschereitz re-discovered them 20 kms from Conakry in the direction of Kindia. The water in this region was reported to be tinted red from rich deposits of Bauxite in the earth. This collection probably became circulated in the hobby as KCF 1.

Many populations have been discovered over the years:-

Abuko & Battabut, Gambia. Both locations are fairly close to each other. Other species found in the biotope included Epiplatys bifasciatus, E.spilargyreus & 'red' cichlids (possibly Hemichromis sp.). Many people have caught them from these locations, amoung them Frohlich in 1972, 1974 & 1977 & Rust in 1974.The Abuko population was widely distributed in the UK in 1986.Quite large populations reported to reach 8 cm in length.

Barmoi, Kenema, Makeni, Rokupr, Rotamp, Sierra Leone. Collected by Roloff.

It has been reported that young fish prefer to lay at the surface whilst older fish lay near the bottom.

Water incubation 13 - 21 days (some publications state 17-29 days). Fry are small on hatching & do better with infusoria for a few days. It can take 6 months or more for the young to reach sexual maturity.

Anthony Pinto in BKA newsletter No.249, May 1986 gives a breeding report for the Gbessia population. The original stock reportedly endured temperatures of 45-50°C whilst in transit for 4 days & survived.
The breeding water was 24°C, pH around neutral, DH 2. A few clumps of peat fibre were added. It was noted that water changes are not appreciated by the breeding fish & only 25% was changed every month. Males are reportedly not hard drivers.
The majority of eggs were found in floating mops although some were laid at the bottom of the tank. On average around 40 eggs per week were collected. Young breeders were noticed to produce many infertile eggs but this improved as the fish matured. Water incubation takes about 3 weeks & the fry are very small on hatching requiring infusoria for the first few days.
Growth was fairly slow with the first signs of breeding attempts being made at 3 months.
_________________________________________________________________

Michael McCarthy of the AKA kindly sent me a report of his experiences with the Abuko population:-
'I've been keeping Script. geryi 'Abuko' and I initially had trouble with the eggs fungusing when water incubating, once one went bad I would lose the entire batch in a couple of days. The best solution I found was to store the eggs on peat fibre. Eggs are then checked daily for a week and any bad eggs removed. The eggs are stored for 18-21 days total at 23°C (at this point, they should stand out clearly on the peat and even at the small size of the eggs, they can be seen to be eyed up). The eggs can then be put into a hatching container and will hatch out in 24-36 hours. This eliminates staggered hatching associated with water incubating and greatly increases the hatch rate. I've not noticed a skew in the sex ratio from this method, nor belly sliders'.

A rather shy species which likes to hide. If given a large enough tank with plenty of plant cover they can be encouraged to put in an appearance.