Aphyosemion georgiae Lambert & Géry 1968

Photo courtesy of Gottfried Marschitz

Meaning of Name

After Georgiette Géry the wife of Dr.Géry.

First Description

Lambert J.G. & Géry J. 1968.

Poissons du bassin de l'Ivindo III. Le genre Aphyosemion.

Biologia Gabonica 3 (1967) (4): 306-308, figure 3.

Size

3.5 cm

Meristics

D = 10-12, A = 10-12, ll = 26-28 (Lambert & Géry 1968)

Karyotype

n = 18, A = 20 (Scheel 1981)

Sub-Genus

Diapteron

Group

 

Synonyms
  • Aphyosemion georgiae georgiae Böhm 1973
  • Aphyosemion (Diapteron) georgiae Huber 1980
  • Diapteron georgiae Seegers 1980
Populations
  • Essongville '95
  • Makokou
  • BDGB 04 / 12
  • GBG 92 / 23
  • GBG 92 / 30
  • GWW 86 / 2
  • GWW 86 / 3
  • GWW 86 / 6 (?)
  • LEC 93 / 2
  • G 02/125

GWW 86 / 2 -

GWW 86-2 - Male
Photo courtesy of Roberto Arbolea

GWW 86-2 - Female
Photo courtesy of Roberto Arbolea

LEC 93 / 2 - Collected 8th January at 10.00 am in a small stream found by walking down a trail off the road from Booué to Koumaméyong. Sympatric species include A.sp.aff.cameronense Phenotype 5, Characidae, Ctenopoma sp, Barbus sp., shrimps.

Makokou -

A.georgiae collected near to Makokou. Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

   
Type Locality

A pool close to Bélinga Camp in the Ivindo River basin, northern Gabon. This area is in the site for a future railway station.

http://www.exotics.net/dkg/steckbriefe/diapteron/gor/aphyosemion_georgiae_
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Distribution

The area between Bélinga & Koumameyong, north Gabon.

Habitat

Small rainforest brooks which are mainly swampy in the Ivindo River drainage.
Roland Numerich in February 1987 found a biotope which was a small fast flowing stream whose character reportedly changes every 200-300 metres. Numerich reported about 50 metres into the forest from the bottom of the stream large chunks of rusty iron covering the base of the biotope. The stream only started to look like a 'normal' biotope of 50 cm of deep bog covered with mud & leaves with wood & large tree roots after 150 metres. The stream was in a deep narrow valley.
The sp. was collected near the banks between fibrous roots & overhanging vegetation just below the surface. Found sympatric with A.cyanostictum.

Small stagnant pools near the stream were also fished but no 'Diapteron' forms were found.

At this collection site near Ovan, Gabon A.georgiae & A.cyanostictum were collected.

Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Distinguishing Characteristics  
Colour/Pattern Variability Low
History

Gery collected the sp. in small streams in the area around Belinga in 1964, approx 600 metres above sea level. He also collected A.cyanostictum
Collected by Herzog & Bochtler in the summer of 1972 & took back alive to Germany.
Collected by Roland Numerich in February 1987 between Belinga to Mayebut on the Ivindo River. Also collected A.cyanostictum & 2 sp. of Aphyosemion.

Breeding Notes

Not recommended for the beginner. Males can be aggressive towards females & plenty of plant/mop/peat fibre cover is recommended. Fry are reportedly not harmed when small & these can be taken off the surface & raised in a seperate tank with infusoria/Paramecium as a first food.
They appear not to produce viable eggs until they reach 12 months of age.

Growth rate is slow with sexual maturity coming around 7-8 months.

Jaroslav Kadlec in BKA Newsletter No.268 (December 1987) gives the following breeding report:-
Water should be soft, at least below 1·5 GH with a carbonate hardness under ·3KH. Females were not seen to be prolific with a maximum yield of 10 per week. A lower temperature than that in the maintenance tank should be used for breeding.
Breeding groups of one male to 2-4 females or a larger breeding group at this ratio are recomended.
A spawning medium should be peat fibre or fine leaved plants. Mops did not prove successful.
Males in breeding condition can be aggressive to females & a single female can be beaten to death.
Egg development can be observed after 4-7 days at 23 - 25°C. Hatching occurs after 15 - 20 days. It was noted that an acid water incubation prolongs the incubation time.. Temperature also seems to affect this time.
Newly hatched fry measure 4·5 mm. First food can be newly hatched brine shrimp or finely sifted Cyclops. At one month they reached 1 cm & at 2 months they reached 16 - 18 mm. Males can start to show colouration at around 10 weeks where they are noticeably larger than females. Sexual maturity was noted at 14 - 16 weeks.
Water temperature used to raise the young should be 22 - 24°C, a cooler temperature will slow or even stop growth rate.

Diameter of Egg 1·3 - 1·4 mm.
Remarks

Spawning adults can predate their eggs. Young fish have been known to be cannibalistic to each other.