Aphyosemion lamberti Radda & Huber 1977

A.lamberti TDK 97 / 19 - 300 meters south of Mkoumbi
 Photo courtesy of Peter Tirbak

Meaning of Name

After Jaques Lambert (Belgian) & André Lambert (French).
First Description

Radda A.C. & Huber J.H. 1977.

Cyprinodontiden Studien in Gabon III, Zentral und Südost Gabun.

Aquaria 24: 61-64, figures 4-5, map.
Size

4.5 cm
Meristics

D = 9-10, A = 13-14, D/A = +8-9, ll = 27-29(+1-3) (Radda & Huber 1977)

Karyotype

n = 18, A = 24 (Huber & Scheel 1981)
Sub-Genus

Aphyosemion
Group

elegans
Synonyms
  • Aphyosemion christyi (non Boulenger 1915) Lambert & Géry 1968
Populations

 

  • Abeilles
  • Abouni K00
  • Booué (north central Gabon)
  • Koulamoutou
  • Lekoko (eastern Gabon)
  • Moanda (54 km northwest of) (southeastern Gabon)
  • Okondja
  • BBA GAB 90 / 1
  • BSWG 97/9
  • EBT 96 / 10
  • EBT 96 / 11
  • G80 / 5
  • G80 / 6
  • G88 / 7
  • G92 / 4
  • GAB 90 / 27
  • GBG 92 / 6
  • GEB 94 / 7
  • GHH 97 / 11
  • GHP 80 / 5
  • PEG 95 / 15
  • PEG 96 / 4
  • PEG 96 / 5
  • PEG 96 / 6
  • PEG 96 / 7
  • PEG 96 / 11
  • TDK 97 / 19 - 300 meters south of Mkoumbi

Photo courtesy of Maurice Chauche & the KCF website.

 

 

A.lamberti circulating in the US around 1980. Photo: Courtesy of Lennie MacKowiak

Abouni - K 00 was a commercial collection by Koubeck in Gabon. He made collections from 1998 - 2001. Imported at least into South Africa.
Tyrone wrote an article on this popultion in BKA newsletter No. 513, June 2008. Eggs laid in mops near the knots. Also laid in plants as fry will appear in the breeding tank which seem to go unmolested. Eggs take 12-14 days to hatch by water storage at 24°C. When stored on peat they can take as long as 6 weeks to hatch.
It is worth taking care on water changes as some reports suggest large scale wipe outs of fry after them. Probably better to either use a lot of plants or change water by a drip method very gradually.
Fry will take newly hatched brine shrimp as a first food. Growth is fairly rapid to start but slows down. Young males start colouring up in 4 months. Females mature at 6 months.

Abouni K 00
Photo courtesy of Karsten Keibel.

Abouni K 00
Photo courtesy of Tyrone Genade

BBA - GAB 90 / 1 - Dave Armitage, Allan & Barbara Brown's collection from 1990.

BBA-GAB 90 / 1

 

Female BBA-GAB 90 / 1
Photo courtesy of David Baker

 

BSWG 97 / 9 -

BSWG 97 / 9
Photo courtesy of Vasco Gomes

GHH 97 / 11 -

GHH 97 / 11 circulating in the BKA 2002.

GHP 80 / 5 -

GHP 80 / 5

Okondja -

Okondja
Photo courtesy of Maurice Chauche & the KCF website.

Region des Abeiles -

A.lamberti Wild fish. Region des Abeilles.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl
Type Locality

A brook close to the Ogowe River along the road to Achouka, west of Booué.

Distribution

The middle & upper regions of the Ogowe River drainage system in central & eastern Gabon. This species represents the northwest boundary of the elegans group.
Habitat

Small forested streams & brooks.
Ed Pürzl reported collected them near the town of Moanda, in a stream one metre wide & 50 - 100 cm deep. The stream had a hard bottom. Also sympatric to this locality were a Plataplochilus sp. & a large number of shrimps with red 'whiskers'.
The native diet of this sp. is terrestrial insects.

Biotope at Abeilles near Lastoursville, Gabon, collecting place of A. lamberti.

Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl.
Distinguishing Characteristics  
Colour/Pattern Variability Fairly high
History

Reported by J.Lambert & J.Gery in 1967 near Booué, central Gabon. Radda & Huber described the species in 1977 from material collected by Bochtler & Gaspers west of Booué in January 1976. Also collected were paratypes from Lekoko (G76/16), Région des Abeilles, 136 km northwest of Lastoursville (G76/10) & 6 km southwest of Lastoursville.
First introduced into the UK around June 1978.
Collected by Brosset in 1980 near Okondja, east Gabon (locations 233 & 234).
Breeding Notes

An easy species to breed in typical mop spawning setups. I have water incubated & laid them on wet peat with equal success. Incubation in water takes about 16-21 days whilst those on wet peat should be left a few days longer. I fed the newly hatched fry on infusoria for a couple of days before feeding newly hatched brine shrimp.
Growth rate is a little slow & sexual maturity can take 6 months.
They have been observed to eat wingless fruit flies & aphids in captivity which they appear to be particularly fond of.
Diameter of Egg  
Remarks

This sp. never seems to be very popular (in the BKA at least), & never attracts high prices at auctions. Perhaps there lack of striking colouration & the fact they are slow to growing turns people away.
I have bred a few populations & found them easy enough.