After the Louessé River from whence they come from.

Pellegrin J. 1931.

Poissons de la Louessé (Kouilou) recueillis par M.A.Baudon, description d'une variété nouvelle.'

Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France 56: p 221.

6 cm

• D = 11, A = 14, ll = 31 (Pellegrin 1931)
• D = 12-14, A = 15-16, ll = 31-32 (Radda & Pürzl 1987)

n = 20, A = 37 (Scheel 1981)

Mesoaphyosemion

ogoense

• Haplochilus lujae var.louessensis Pellegrin 1931
• Aphyosemion louessense Daget & Stauch 1968
• Aphyosemion louessense pop.paucipunctatum Huber & Radda 1979 (nomen nudum)
• Aphyosemion louessense pop.variatum Huber & Radda 1979 (nomen nudum)
• Aphyosemion sp.Malinga Huber 1980

• Gandji
• Kingouma (southern Congo) (known in 2 colour forms, light & dark)
• Lekoli Magogo (south of Komono, southern Congo)
• Malinga (southern Gabon)
• Niari-Kouilla Junction (Congo)
• Obilly
• Sibiti
• Tongo (southern Congo)
• Yanga (southern Congo)
• CMBB 89 / 3 Gandji
• JH 212 Malinga
• NSC 4
• RPC 24
• RPC 31
• RPC 32
• RPC 33 Kingouama
• RPC 91 / 13 Obilly
• JH 78 / 169

JH 212 - Collected by Dr.J.H.Huber in 1979 a few kms northwest of Malinga. Huber reported that wild females had a 'heavily spotted body' & males have 'red transverse lines which run together & are more irregular than thysi'. Karyotype on this population n = 20, A = 38 (at the time this information was prepared an insufficient number of specimens had been examined & this was cosidered a tentative finding).
RPC 78 / 24 - Wild fish were quite small & were reported to look like miniature Fp.amieti. Regarded at the time to be the most colourful of the louessense from this collection.
RPC 78 / 31 - Regarded at the time as being similar to the 24 location but they proved to be more sensitive to water conditions & regular water changes were essential. Huber & Radda gave this location the name A.cf.louessense.
RPC 78 / 32 - Wild fish were reportedly spawned in rainwater & tapwater at 13 DH equally well. This was the odd ball in the louessense collected in this trip being less marked, with a more compressed body. The fins too differed. Best maintained in a tank with a dark base to show best colouration. Huber & Radda gave this location the name of A.cf.louessense 'paucipunctatum'.
RPC 78 / 33 - Wild fish had strong yellow bands in the caudal fin. Huber & Radda gave this location the name of A.cf.louessense 'viarum'.

Louessé River.

The inland plateau of southern Congo, in the Bouenza, Kouilou (formerly Louessé), Lefali & upper Nyanga River drainage systems. Also, in southern Gabon, in the Nyanga River drainage.

Small rainforest or forested savannah streams & pools. They are usually found in the shallowest of areas.

Pellegrin decribed the species in 1931 from a single specimen collected in the Louesse River which is a tributary of the Kouilou River, former French Congo.

Imported to the UK & distributed by BKA Species Import Committee July/August 1979. This population was RPC 31. RPC 24 was distributed in September 1979.

Some populations are easier to breed than others. What breeds well for one breeder may not do as well for another. Eggs can be collected regularly & hatched in a seperate container where they will take 15-20 days to hatch. Sexual maturity is attained at about 6 months.

The RPC 24 population is considered best bred by leaving the eggs untouched on the mop.

Stan Langdon reported on the RPC 78 / 33 population in BKA newsletter No.211, March 1983. He bred them in 70% rainwater, 20% boiled tapwater & 10% water from an established tank. Java moss & Ceratopteris were included along with a brown mop. The fish were fed white worm & flake. He considered them non prolific but consistent in breeding.
Water changes appear to halt spawning. Stan takes fry out of the parents tank & raises them in seperate tanks. Anyone seeing Stan's fish on the auction bench will see this method works for him.