This species is arguably one of the most misunderstood in the hobby since it's wholly unsuitable for smaller aquaria despite its ubiquitous availability. Most retailers sell it without providing what should be considered essential information regarding long-term care and most specimens undoubtedly fail to reach their potential in captivity. The purchase of a group is also a considerable investment given that if properly cared for typical life span is in excess…

One of the most stunning killifish available, due to the sublime colouration of adult males combined with their impressive maximum size. It was formerly classified as Aphyosemion sjoestedti and much of the available literature still refers to it by this name. There are several colour forms available, including a smaller variety known as "Dwarf Red".

This is not an annual species, occuring only in permanent bodies of water.

Note the cooler temperatures required by this rare species. It is not an annual fish, occuring only in permanent bodies of water.

This species is also known as ‘Gardner’s Killi’ and ‘blue lyretail’ and the commonly-available aquarium forms are perhaps among the best choices for those new to keeping killifishes being relatively hardy, colourful and easy to breed.

A number of ornamental strains have also been line-bred by aquarists including ‘gold’ and ‘albino’.

Distributed throughout coastal regions north and westwards from Gabon through Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin and Togo as far as Ghana although some consider it restricted to northwestern Gabon and Equatorial Guinea with the remaining populations representing various subspecies (see ‘Notes’).

Type locality is ‘Gaboon River’, which presumably refe…

This species is also known as ‘Daget’s panchax’, ‘black-lipped panchax’, ‘orange-throated panchax’ or ‘firemouth killifish’ and is an aquarium stalwart with the red-throated form having first been exported in 1908.

It’s an excellent choice for those new to killifishes or egg-laying species in general since the aquarium strain is well-established, quite hardy and easy to breed.

There was some initial confusion after Belgian ich…

Appears restricted to the area between the lower Mitmele River, Equatorial Guinea and the lower Ogooué basin in Gabon, including coastal drainages such as the Mbei, Komo and Gabon watersheds in between.

Type locality is ‘Abanga River, between first and second rapids, Ogowe River system, Gabon’, corresponding to the Abanga River bas…

There exist several different colour forms of this species depending on collection locality, and these should not be kept together in order to prevent hybridisation and preserve bloodlines. It has been classified in the subgenus Chromaphyosemion by some authors who consider that nominal grouping to represent a monophyletic branch of a paraphyletic Aphyosemion.

This species is not an annual fish, being found in permanent bodies of water in nature. Over 20 different forms of it have been discovered at different localities and a handful have been given subspecific names. The most popular in the aquarium hobby include A. o. ottogartneri and A. o. pyrophore, both of which were initially described as separate species.