Tropical Fish Hobbyist

in my local club had collected in this same general area, I see there is a lot of variation within the known species when moving from place to place, even on the same stream system. There is so much potential variation that the killie hobbyists have now added another level to their identification system. In addition to species and subspecies, they have also added collection location data. It makes for a long name and drives our society’s BAP (Breeders Award Program) chairman crazy, but it does make sense in trying to keep the numerous locality variants separate.

Finally, there is the possibility that this is either a naturally occurring locality-variant hybrid, or even a man-made hybrid. I’m not suggesting any nefarious intent here, just the possibility that an exporter, while awaiting export, had leftovers from one collection of P. taeniatus mixed with another and waited long enough that a pair formed and spawned. It could also be that the collector gathered up fish from several streams and packed them all together. Once in captivity, they would be forced to spawn with whatever mate was available. But if any of these scenarios happened, I would think we’d expect to find some variation in the F1 and later fry. So far, we’re on the F3 and F4 generations, and there is no variation that I’ve yet seen from the original

correct location to protect his collecting area. This has happened many times in the past, all around the world. While it is annoying to those of us in the hobby, it makes economic sense to the collector that needs to make a living.

Second, there is the possibility that the collector was mistaken about exactly where they were found and merely named them according to the town where he based his collection activities. The entire area we’re talking about here is very small— with the hilly terrain and unmarked and unpaved logging roads, it is possible that the collector went into the field to collect the fish and wound up collecting farther south than he thought he was, and actually collected from a stream feeding into the Nyé’été or Lobé River. Without a GPS system and a detailed topographical map, this would be completely understandable. I would not expect a native fish collector in Cameroon or anywhere else to have either of these things.

Third, there is the possibility that this population is actually found exactly where the collector says they were found, in the area around Bandéwouri, and we don’t know as much as we think we do about the distribution and color patterns of wild Pelvicachromis taeniatus in the area. After looking at the killies that the guys

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The happy family: the author’s Pelvicachromis taeniatus “Bandéwouri,” male and female with fry.

adults, so this hybrid theory is unlikely— but it remains a possibility.

Conclusion

So for the time being, we are left with the Bandéwouri conundrum. Exactly what are these colorful Pelvicachromis taeniatus variants and where are they from? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, we can enjoy a real beauty. If you come across them—regardless of any arguments you may have read on the Internet concerning their place of origin—I recommend you get some. You won’t be disappointed.