Procatopus similis Ahl 1927

Kumba, Cameroon. Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

Meaning of Name

First Description

Ahl E. 1927

Journal. Sber. Ges. naturf. Berl. 1927. a. pp 76-81.

Size

Meristics

D = 10-12, A = 16-19. ll = 29-30.
Karyotype

Sub-Genus

Group

Synonyms
  • Procatopus abbreviatus Pellegrin 1929
  • Procatopus glaucicaudis Clausen 1959 - Collected by Clausen from a stream in the Cross river drainage 93 kms north of Kumba. Radda collected in a stream near Baduma in the Mungo river system (probably Wowe or Moliba).
    The British Museum of Natural History has 16 specimens (14 male, 2 female) collected in the Menge, Wowe & Blackwater rivers tributaries in the Mungo drainage.
  • Procatupus iridaeus Sommer 1978 (nom nudum)
  • Procatopus lacustris Trewavas 1974 - Type locality Lake Soden. Collected by Drs Green, Corbet & Griffith in April 1970.
  • Procatopus sp. Yabassi
Populations
  • Batombé
  • Bombé
  • Edéa
  • Idenau, CI 98
  • Kumba
  • Lake Barombi
  • Moliwe
  • Mundemba (also distributed as CI 04)
  • Mungo Ndor
  • Muyuka (Mungo River)
  • Olofa - NG MM 14 (sp.similis)
  • Supé
  • Yabassi
  • GPE 90 / 3 - Kumba

Supé, Cameroon.
Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

Muyuka, Cameroon.
Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

Procatopus sp. Edéa.
Photo: Courtesy of Ed Pürzl

Male, commercial import from Cameroon.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Wild male from a commercial import into the USA in 2003.
Photo courtesy of Tony Terceira.

Male, commercial import from Cameroon.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

 

Male, commercial import from Cameroon.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pürzl.

Mundemba. Wild male from commercial shipment to the USA 2004.
Photo courtesy of Tony Terceira.

 

From a small stream near a village called OLOFA, along Isiwo road, near the ancient Ijebu Ode town in
present day Ogun State of Nigeria, in the heartland of the Yoruba ethnic group.
A shipment of wild caught Killies from the Niger Delta area into the USA in 2014. This was coded NG MM 14 which stands for
Nigeria -Macowiak & Mazzola 2014.

Gottfried Marschitz allowed me to put these photos on the website of Procatopus he collected in Cameron in 1995.
I am not an expert on this genus so I am placing them here pending future work in placing them in other pages.

CLMM 95 / 3

CLMM 95 / 2

CLMM 95 / 15

CLMM 95 / 13

CLMM 95 / 4
Type Locality

Logobaba, eastern side of the Wouri Delta.
Distribution

 
Habitat

Trewavas reported them coming from running water & feeding on surface insects & insects from the floor of the habitat.

P.sp.Yabassi was collected by Paul Blowers. He observed that a lot of Procatopus are found just down stream of where the locals process the sago trees, pounding the pith in the river shallows with the fish feeding on the debris. Apparantly these were so abundant that they couldn't lift the net from the water.
Distinguishing Characteristics Scheel, in ROTOW 1 makes reference to Procatopus cf. similis from just north of the junction of the roads to Yabassi - Douala - Edea towards Yabassi & 17, 26 & 51 km further along this road. In these localities fin colours in males varied but were constant within a single location. This area is flat with rainforest (1968).
Colour/Pattern Variability  
History

The British Museum of Natural History holds 56 specimens collected in an inlet stream to Lake Barombi Mbo, from Kumba river & its tributary the Mpanga. These are in the Mungo river drainage. Also from the Billé river in the Meme river drainage.

First reported import to the BKA was from David Blair on the 8th August 1970. They were imported under the name P.glaucicaudis.
Breeding Notes

P.sp.Yabassi produced many belly sliders. The best method of producing healthy fry was found to be by aerating the container where the eggs are stored.
Diameter of Egg  
Remarks