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Aphyosemion bualanum

Bouala Lyretail

(Ahl, 1924)Formerly Panchax bualanus Ahl, 1924

Last revised 2026Edit this page

On this page4 sections
Adult male specimen; collection details unspecified.
Adult male specimen; collection details unspecified.Hristo Hristov

Quick factsEdit

Max size
50mm SL2.0in SL
Aquarium size
not recorded
Temp
not recorded
pH
not recorded
Hardness
not recorded

Difficulty1 of 8 measures

Not enough data to rate

How the rating is worked out

Space
small tank
Water
unknown
Temp
unknown
Diet
unknown
Temperament
unknown
Social
unknown
Compatibility
unknown

Other demands

Each of these can raise the rating on its own, whatever the measures above say.

Hardiness
unknown

The Bouala lyretail, Aphyosemion bualanum, is a killifish from the upper Benue and Mayo Kébbi systems in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Chad. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Before 1990 the name was misused for various populations of A. elberti.

Etymology

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Aphyosemion: from the Greek aphúe (Gr. ἀφύη), meaning 'a small fish', and semeion (Gr. σημεῖον), meaning 'banner, flag', in reference to the "ornamented, often lyre-shaped" caudal fin in male individuals of genus members.

bualanum: named for its type locality of "Buala, Cameroon" (now corresponds to a location in Central African Republic), in combination with the Latin suffix -anum, meaning 'of, pertaining to'.

Distribution

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Described from 'Buala, Cameroon', which corresponds to modern-day Bouala in Central African Republic. Its known distribution includes parts of northern Cameroon, western Central African Republic, southeastern Chad and possibly eastern Nigeria in the upper Benue and Mayo Kébbi river systems.

Notes

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The specific name was mis-used to refer to various populations of the congener A. elberti prior to 1990, and we've been unable to confirm if the specimen pictured here is correctly identified or not. It is listed as 'endangered' by the IUCN.