After Dr.A.C.Radda

Scheel J.J 1975.

Another new species of Aphyosemion from the Cameroons

Journal of the American Killifish Association (9): p 259-263, map.

4.5 cm

D = 10-13, A = 14-17, ll = 31-34 (Scheel 1975)

n = 16, A = 22 (Scheel 1975)

Mesoaphyosemion

cameronense

• Panchax pictus Meinken 1932
• Aphyosemion aff. obscurum Radda 1971
• Aphyosemion meinkeni (non Myers 1933) Radda 1974
• Aphyosemion cf. meinkeni sensu Radda 1973
• Aphyosemion raddai raddai Scheel 1981

• Boga (Has very dark sub-marginal bands in the caudal fin)
• Boumnyebel
• Log Bako'o (Collected by Eberl, Legros & Vlijm 1990)
• Manguingués - EMS 90 / 1
• Manyaï - Manyay may be a corruption
• Matomb
• Mayebeg
• Medouneu
• Modé - C 89 / 28
• CAM-JU
• C 89 / 28 Modé, north of Boumnyébél
• C 89 / 41 (?)
• CFE 04 / 10
• CFE 04 / 11 - Matomb
• CMG 23 / 4 - Ham
• CMM 84 Modé
• EMS 90 / 1 - Stream called Mayongo near Lepku'um south of Eséka
• EMS 90 / 9 - Log Bako´o, 6 km east of Pouma
• HAH 98
• KEK 98 / 5
• ABL 08 / 268 - (Frontier collection - raddai/obscurum)
• KEK 98 / 23 - (Frontier collection - raddai/obscurum)
• Bondjock (This population has no yellow pigment in the unpaired fins. It is found at the southern end of the distribution of the species). - (Frontier collection - raddai/obscurum)

AM-JU - Scheel & Clausen collected a fish in 1966 which was identical with 'meinkeni'. Live fish were brought back & this code was applied. Sympatric sp. included Epiplatys esekanus.

Boumnyebel - Gresens & Armbruster collected A.raddai in February/March 2009 near this village. Photo in DKG newsletter 42 (1).

C 89 / 28 Mode/Matomb - 7km north of Boumnyébel. Collected by Eberl et al 14th July 1989. The biotope was a standing pool about 20 metres long & slightly less wide. The base was thick mud & decaying leaves & water depth was 30cms. Marsh gas (Hydrogon sulphide) bubbled up to the surface. This gave the area a bad egg smell. In 2 hours 3 adult pairs were collected. A small stream ran from the pool where half grown A.raddai were collected in large numbers. In this area the base was gravel with wood blocking the stream. A few males & 15 females were taken from this biotope.

CFE 02 / 10 - A few hundred metres from location KEK 98 / 23.

EMS 90 / 1 - Lepku'um, 10km south of Eséka

EMS 90 / 9 - Log Bako´o, 6km east of Pouma

HAH 98 (Possibly Eseka Road) - http://www.inkmaker.net/Fish/cameroonPIX/pages/RADDAI2.htm St.Louis Area Killifish Association

KEK 98 / 5 -

Medouneu -

A brook to the south of the Eseka-Edea-Yaoundé road junction of west-central Cameroon near Boumnyébel. Collected by A.C.Radda.

The slopes of the southern Cameroon Plateau in an area between the Sanaga & Nyong Rivers.
Scheel mentioned on his collection in 1966 that they are found in the lowlands north of the Nyong River.
Eberl (Faszination Killifische) notes that the distance between collections at Modé & Lepku'um is 44km as the crow flies.

It is considered (Eberl in BKA newsletter No. 553, March/April 2013) that fish collected in the area of KEK 98 / 23 & ABL 08 / 268 may represent a different undescribed species. This area is on the frontier of raddai & obscurum. These fish have a thin black outer margin in unpaired fins.

Rainforest brooks where they inhabit quieter areas of fast flow.

In 1930 a batch of fish were received by Platy-Tischrunde of Hamburg. In a bag containing Aphyosemion cameronense an unknown form was found, a pair of which were sent to Dr.Norman of the British Museum (Natural History), London.
Norman examined these fish & concluded they were not A.cameronensis. A detailed description can be found in BKA newsletter No.92, April 1973. These fish were named Panchax (Aphyosemion) pictus after the bright lively colouration which looked as though 'they had been taken from a painters palette'. The name Aphyosemion pictus was found to be pre-occupied by Panchax pictum Cuvier & Valenciennes 1846 & the fish was given the name Aphyosemion meinkeni by Myers in 1933.

In 1932 Meinken created the name Panchax (Aphyosemion) pictus for some fish being kept in Germany at the time. These were imported by Platy-Tischrunde of Hamburg in 1930. Meinken sent 2 preserved individuals to Norman at the British Museum

Myers, in his revision of 1933, found the name pictus to be preoccupied with Panchax pictum & redescribed them Aphyosemion meinkeni Myers 1933.

Collected by Scheel & Clausen in 1966.

In 1973 Radda collected them on the Edea-Eseka-Yaounde road junction. He had doubts these were A.meinkeni (the name of the sp. at this time) & sent material he collected to Scheel who considered they were a new sp. & named them Aphyosemion raddai. Some fish had already been distributed in Germany at this time under the meinkeni name & this caused some confusion.

1990 - Eberl & others tried to find this location but the road was replaced by a newly asphalted surface in 1987/88. This now called the Axe Lourd. The old road was difficult to negotiate & may have reverted back to jungle. Discovered again between Boumnyébel & Matomb along the Route Ancienne & later Axe Lourd.
Eberl et al collected this sp. on 19th August 1990 near Log Bako'o about 6km east of Pouma together with A.loennbergii, A.amoenum & E.sexfasciatus (EMS 90/9).

Regarded as fairly difficult. I have raised a few fish up. Breeding was accomplished in cooler tanks set up on the bottom row of the fish house. Eggs although few were collected off top & bottom mops. Water incubation is around 14 days although Sterba in Freshwater Fishes reports 12 at the earliest.. Regarded as being quite fast growing although mine seemed a little slow. Sexual maturity is regarded as taking around 6 months.

John Buytaert wrote an article in the Belgian association newsletter which was reprinted in the BKA newsletter No.157, September 1978 where he considered the females to be avid egg eaters & only one female should be used for breeding.
Water conditions were reported as being not critical & a DH between 4-10 suited. Eggs were found to be large & deposited in fine substrate & floating mops. Egg yield increased after a water change. The article quotes a water depth of 5cm but I'm not sure if this was a typing error.
Hatching occurs in about 14 days using the water incubation method & 3 weeks if stored in damp peat. On hatching the fry will take newly hatched brine shrimp. Growth was reported to be fast but a halt was noted in the growth rate as they grew. Sexual maturity was attained at 6 months with full size after 1 year.
John considered this sp. to be 'not easy to breed'. He observed that some pairs produced only males whilst others produced only females.