The tiny
Congopanchaxbrichardi
grows toonlyaround2-2.5 cm long.
NEWS102
10
Lexicon
Lampeyes
Aplocheilichthys:
means“Fishwith simple lips”
Poropanchax:
means“Panchaxwithpores”,
referring toporeson thehead
region;Panchax is thenameof
another killifishgenus.
Congopanchax:
means“Panchax from theCongo”
myersi:
name inhonor of the ichthyologist
GeorgeSpragueMyers (1905–1985)
brichardi:
name inhonor of the collector and
exporter PierreBrichard (1921-
1990)
Becauseof theoverfishing situation in Lake
Tumba and its only imprecisely known
distribution,
Brichard’s
Hummingbird
Lampeye appears as“Least Concern”on the
InternationalRedListof the IUCN.That is the
lowestalert level foraspecies.
Intheaquarium
Undoubtedly the main problem for
aquarists as regards
Congopanchax
brichardi
isobtaining thespeciesatall.Only
relatively few importations reach us from
the central Congo region and Brichard’s
HummingbirdLampeye isasgoodasnever
among them.This is undoubtedly because
it isgenerallyverydifficulttoaccommodate
such small, delicate fishes correctly over
there.And inadditiondebilitated fishes are
very
sensitive
to
transportation.
Nevertheless from the1990son therehave
been occasional importations of these
breathtakinglybeautiful fishes toEurope.
Great
care
is
required
during
acclimatization, as otherwise losses are
unavoidable. These fishes are very
susceptible to bacterial (debilitating)
diseases and the dreaded “Velvet Disease”,
Piscinoodinium
.
The specimens in the photographs were
importedbyAquariumGlaser inthesecond
week of January 2012. The fishes were
initiallymaintained for aweek in a 15-liter
photographic aquariumwith relatively soft
water (8 °dGH)atpH7andatemperatureof
22-24 °C, where they settled in well. The
photographic aquariumwas fairly strongly
filteredtokeepthewater freeofsuspended
particles. A submersible pump with a
turnoverof40 liters/hourpoweredthe filter.
The little fishes tolerated thisstrongcurrent
without problem,butwereverynervous in
the clear water.They are best not exposed
to strongcurrent in the long term.
When thephotographicworkwas finished
the fishesweremoved to a small 30 x 20 x
20 cm) aquarium filled with the readily
available rain water, matured in a small
garden pond. A number of Alder (
Alnus
glutinosa
) cones colored the water in this
aquarium deep brown. The aquarium
wasn’t filtered, and the water temperature
was around 28 °C. The fishes were fed
exclusive with live
Artemia nauplii
.
Stomach-contents
investigations
performedbyMatthes in the field showed
that
Congopanchax
feed on Cladocera,
copepods,and the tiniestof insect larvae.
The deep brownwater has the advantage
that the fishes feelmore secure; thehumic
substances from the Alder cones have a
slightbactericidal and fungicidal effect,and
the development of the light-hungry
Piscinoodinium isat least limited.
Dieter Bork succeeded in breeding these
fishes in the 1990s. He placed them in a
group (16 individuals) ina30-literaquarium
at 27 °C, with soft water (conductivity
200µS/cm) and apHof 6.8,with apieceof
bogwood covered in Java Moss as a
spawning substrate.The little fishesproved
veryproductive (more than100 fryafter14
days), but the younggrew very slowly and
took7-12months to reachadulthood.
