NEWS102
8
Courtingmale
Poropanchaxbrichardi
.
All photos:FrankSchäfer
confusedmassofnames
The scientific genus name of this
lampeye remains the subject of debate.
Initially this little fish was placed in the
genus
Aplocheilichthys
, and then the new
genus
Congopanchax
was erected for it.
Thereafter
Congopanchax
wasregardedasa
distinct genus by some scientists, while
otherssaw itasnomore thanasubgenusof
Aplocheilichthys
.
Nowadays,
however,
Congopanchax
is usually regarded as a
subgenus of the genus
Poropanchax
. This
may all sound very confusing, but merely
reflects the fact that the phylogenetic
relationships of the lampeyes are being
studiedmore intensively.Moreover,different
researchmethods producedifferent results
A
The lamp-eyes are killifishes from Africa and a number of species have
longbeenpart of the standard rangeof better aquarium stores. But the
species thatAquariumGlaserhas recently imported from theD.R.Congo
isnot only fabulouslybeautiful but alsoanaquarium-hobby rarityof the
first rank.
Ajewel from theCongo
byFrankSchäfer
and these are in turn subject to different
interpretations by the researchers. There is
no right orwronghere, as thediscussion is
by no means at an end, and everyone
involved in the argument has the scientific
freedom to decide for him- or herself, on a
purelypersonalbasis,whichof theevidence
put forward should be regarded as
conclusive. And thus it is that this little fish
can be found in the literature under the
names
Congopanchax
brichardi
,
Aplocheilichthys brichardi
,
Poropanchax
brichardi
or–andthis isthemostcommonly
used designation at present -
Poropanchax
(
Congopanchax
)
brichardi
.
The fact that the name
Congopanchax
is
placed in brackets signifies that it is being
usedasasubgenusname.
We aquarists need tobe aware of all these
names inordertobeabletostudytheentire
body of literature that currently exists on
these little jewels.
Historyofdiscovery
In1952MaxPoll describeda small lampeye
(males maximum length 2.5 cm, females
maximum2cm) asAplocheilichthysmyersi.
The type locality was is "Ile Atena, Stanley
Pool, Leopoldville"; nowadays these places
are known as Mbamu Island,Malebo Pool,
and Kinshasa. You see, it isn’t just scientific
names thatcanchange...
Killifish
