Aphyosemion celiae

Male Aphyosemion celiae in a breeding tank

We keep a breeding pair of Aphyosemion celiae (Scheel, 1971) in our fishroom. We feed them brine shrimp, Drosophila, Bloodworms, Vinegar Eels, Black Worms, Tubifex, small earthworms, and Daphnia.

A video from our fishroom is here:


"CEL" is from Cameroon. Scheel (1990) gave two localities. The type locality is east of Kumba at North 4 deg 38 min, East  9 deg 29 min. Scheel (1990, p 188) adds that Amiet told him of an additional locality about 45 km away, from Bakaka Forest Resrve, east of the road from Loum toward Nkongsamba, East Cameroon. Take road N16 from Kumba to Loum, then N5 to the river floodplain east of the Loum volcano.

Keep in mind these roads can be difficult going. You need a 4 wheel vehicle with a winch, one with a great deal of clearence under the drive train. Here is a video of a portion of N16:

Kumba to Loum Road

However the Loum to Nkongsamba highway is better. Amiet's locality is east of the Loum volcano, under the clouds just north of Loum in the center of the Google Earth picture above.

You see the Loum Volcano in 3-D. Amiet's locality seems to be the floodplain of the river to the east of the road, N5.

A video from another user along the Loum to Nkongsamba road is here:
Loum to Nkongsamba highway

Our own water drains two basaltic ridges and runs through laterite soils. This is the reason we decided to take CEL as a conservation project. We have uniform water throughout the fishroom, and select species who evolved for similar water.

The type locality is a rural area of pastures and fields east of Kumba, and will be gone soon as Kumba grows. Note the rural appearance of the type locality N4.63 E9.48,  and the approaching town. CEL is in need of help.