Max Pedley introduces an unexpected and striking import from Africa.
MAX PEDLEY Max is Director of Ornamental Aquatics Wholesale, as well as Yorkshire Brine Shrimp.
DIRECT IMPORTS OF wild fish often result in incorrect identifications. Such mistakes can be innocent, a simple error on behalf of the exporter, whilst others are a little more nefarious—labelling a common species as something worth more to draw in the unsuspecting buyer. Seldom does the reverse occur, whereby a fish is purchased under the impression of it being something worth less…
On a recent Nigerian import, we received a bag full of small juvenile Procatopus similis. The genus represents a group of physically large (by lampeye standards) and sensitive lampeye killifish which seldom enter the trade. The animals which arrived were somewhat bland, with no real redeeming features.
Unsurprisingly, they stayed with us for a few months, despite my efforts to push them onto retailer after retailer, each time trying desperately to explain just how beautiful they would turn out, only to be rebuffed with the same answer, going something like… “…but they are just little silver fish!”
As they began to grow, it became clear that my efforts to elucidate the potential magnificence of these fish were hugely underrated.
Exaggerated, comb-like appendages and colours on the fins began to appear, not typical of P. similis. Streaks of red developed on them, complimenting the bronze and ethereal hues of blue which comprise the livery of the body. It soon became clear that these fish were not P. similis at all!
Taxonomy tangle
The general consensus when presented to the killifish community was that the animals in our care were Procatopus plumosus, the plumed lampeye. Clearly, this species is unique in terms of appearance and could be described as the most extravagant of the Procatopus. But further questioning and digging revealed that the specific name, plumosus was not actually valid from a scientific standpoint, much to the dismay of many seasoned African killifish hobbyists. For one reason or another, ichthyologist Herluf Stenholt Clausen’s work in 1959, which described a total of 15 species of Proctopus, has been all but ignored by science, leaving a total of three valid species: P. similis, P. nototaenia and P. abberans.
So where does this leave our fish? According to fish database Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes, P. plumosus is a synonym of P. abberans, yet, even to the untrained eye, it is quite clear the two possess some huge physiological differences, and to the seasoned keeper behaviour varies too. Therefore, it is probably
