Aphyosemion cognatum

Aphyosemion: from the Greek aphúe (Gr. ἀφύη), meaning 'a small fish', and semeion (Gr. σημεῖον), meaning 'banner, flag', in reference to the "ornamented, often lyre-shaped" caudal fin in male individuals of genus members.

cognatum: from the Latin adjective cognatus, meaning 'related', since at the time of description it was presumed to be closely related to the congeners A. calliurum and A. striatum.

The type material was derived from a commercial shipment of fishes from Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and presumed to have been collected in the vicinity. The precise extent of its distribution unknown but appears extensive in the middle and lower Congo regions, with specimen collected from Lac Fwa (Sankuru River drainage, a Congo River tributary), many hundreds of kilometres west of Kinshasa, identified as belonging to this species.