who know the Hemichromis sp. "Ghana/Ankaasa"

[k98]

imo this one can match any lifalili

 

[tjudy]

'Ankasa' differs from H. lifalili in that the 'Ansaka' has the yellow lines on the face rather than the blue dots. Lamboj suggests in his book that it shows similarities to the type material of H. paynei.

 

[Randall]

Hemichromis sp. "Ankasa"

Hello guys,

The photo here depicts Hemichromis sp. "Ankasa" from Ghana. This form is remarkably different from H. lifalili for several reasons, including range and color pattern. H. lifalili was described from the Congo River basin in the DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, and the Central Afican Republic and exhibits an intense pattern of irridescent-blue iridiophores. H. sp. "Ankasa", as far as anyone knows, is found in Ghana and lacks the irridescent-blue iridiophores found on H. lifalili. As for H. sp "Ankasa" resembling the type material of H. paynei, this opens up a huge can of worms.

The range of the form described as H. paynei Loiselle, 1979, is limited to Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. However, some popular literature labels hemichromine fishes from Ghana as H. paynei as well. One of the distinguishing characters of H. paynei includes a dark midlateral blotch positioned completely above the midlateral line. H. sp. "Ankasa", however, possess a dark midlateral blotch that is traversed by the midlateral line. On this basis, I don't think that the form known in the hobby as H. sp. "Ankasa" corresponds to H. paynei Loiselle, 1979. I should note, however, that we have other Hemichromis spp. coming out of Ghana that do not seem to correspond to any described taxa.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[retro_gk]

I was under the impression that H. paynei was more of a green than a red fish. Did I get my wires crossed somewhere?