Following the key of Romand (1992) this species can be told apart from congeners by the following combination of characters: adult size > 40 mm SL; large, dark, transverse bars and some reddish-brown pigmentation on flanks; longitudinal bands more-or-less defined; longitudinal bands composed of small red spots; caudal-fin subquadrangular caudal fin; 11-13 anal-fin rays; 16-17 dorsal-fin rays; 7-8 anal-fin rays located anterior to dorsal-fin origin.

Native to northwestern Africa with a range extending southwards from Guinea-Bissau through coastal parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone as far as western Liberia, around the city of Monrovia.

Type locality was originally given as ‘Sierra Leone’ and ‘Upper Nile’ but this was later changed to ‘Freetown, 8°30’N, 13°15’W, Sierra Leon’, referring to the capital of Sierra Leone.

Described from Assinie-Mafia in south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), western Africa but currently accepted to be extensively distributed in coastal river drainages of central western Africa from the Saint John River, central Liberia to the Cross River drainage, in southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. It also occurs in the Niger and its major tributary the Benue (Bénoué) and has thus been recorded from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.

The genus Barbus is in something of a confused state classification-wise. While there exist almost 340 putative species the vast majority of them do not appear to be closely-related to the genus Barbus sensu stricto.

Berrebi et al. (1996) proposed that only the European, Southwest Asian and North African representatives should be included in Barbus (around 20 species) and that ‘all species of Barbus sen…

Perhaps looks best in a heavily-planted set-up or natural-style arrangement comprising a sandy substrate plus some driftwood roots and branches.

The addition of dried leaf litter would further emphasise the natural feel and as well as offering additional cover for the fish brings with it the growth of microbe colonies as decomposition occurs.

These can provide a valuable secondary food source for fry and the humic su…

Often overlooked when seen for sale, as juveniles can appear a little dull, A. thomasi is actually one of the best choices for the newcomer to dwarf cichlids. It is relatively undemanding, peaceful, easily bred and quite beautiful once settled into the aquarium.

The species is currently monotypic, although several colour forms are available from time to time. In the future some or all of these may prove to be distinct species….