By Roger Langton
Various people have expressed an interest in knowing more about the fishes in the genus Pachypanchax.
There are currently three species in the genus: Pachypanchax playfairii, P. omalonotus, and P. sakaramyi. the last two species are found in Madagascar, while P. playfairii is found on Zanzibar Island and the Seychelle Islands. The first two species have been in the hobby from time to time over the last 40 years, but P. sakaramyi LM/94 (Joffreville) was only recently rediscovered by Paul Loiselle and brought back to the U.S. in October 1994. The last previously known collection of P. sakaramyi was in 1954. Paul also brought back specimens of P. omalonotus LM/94 (Nosy Be). Nosy Be is a small island off the northwest coast of Madagascar and the type locality of the species.
The two species from Madagascar are part of the Madagascar Captive Breeding Program of the Aquatic Conservation Network. Being a participant in this program, I received all of the wild fish of P. omalonotus LM/94 (Nosy Be) and six pairs of F1 specimens of P. sakaramyi LM/94 (Joffreville). For the latter, each pair came from a different wild pair. I have bred large numbers of P. omalonotus LM/94 (Nosy Be) for conservation purposes and have distributed them to public aquariums and aquarium societies that are part of the program. there is also a population of P. omalonotus ES/91 (Nosy Be) that is also part of the program. These were collected by Eggers and Staeck in 1991. As of this time, P. sakaramyi has not been distributed to a participating institution or group, and awaits people to come forward. American Killifish Association members have shown little interest in participating in the important captive breeding project, with the exception of the Vancouver Killifish Association.
P. sakaramyi males have different color patterns from the other Pachypanchax species and are very attractive fishyellow/green/blue with black margins on the fins. There are several populations of P. omalonotus along the northwest coastal area of Madagascar, and these may turn out to be undescribed species or subspecies in the genus Pachypanchax. the specimen pictured in Scheel’s book (Atlas of Killifishes of the Old World) on page 244 probably represents the southern-most population. These populations have considerable variation in color patterns and make great aquarium fish.
It should be noted that Scheel (and others) have spelled omalonotus as homalonotus, but this is incorrect. The original description by Dumeril in 1861 used omalonotus.
Much of this information can be found in the book The Wild Collections of Killifish 1950-1995, which is available through the AKA.
— G.C.K.A. Newsletter, June 1997.
Copyright 1997 Roger Langton; reproduced with permission.