Fundulopanchax sjoestedti 'Niger delta'

SJO from the Niger Delta in Nigeria. Tony Woeltjes shipped some to Cooymans, a wholesaler in Holland in the late 1980s and small numbers trickled out from there to killi clubs at high prices. both Warri and Niger Delta arrived at the same time and both have forms with blue or orange pectoral fins. The forms have more orange in the lower half of the caudal peduncle than the typical "blue gularis" or "US Blue" gularis does. The Niger Delta form proved popular and the Warri strain died out more or less becoming large ugly fish with large bodies and reduced tails.


Owore_River

Swamp habitat, Owore River, Ondo State, Nigeria.


Sapele

There are few photos of this location and all show a fairly inelegant form with a large body and small tail.


Fundulopanchax sjoestedti 'Warri'

Tony Woeltjes, who imported these from Nigeria in the 1980s, told the author "the blue and orange forms are found in the same creek" upon a chance meeting at an AKA convention in Milwaukee. The BAKA in 1989 purchased three pair of two forms, these and Niger Delta from Tony via WAKO and the author obtained one pair of each Niger Delta and Warri that were passed on to Russ Feilzer and all US aquarium stock came from those fish as far as is known until later populations were imported. The fish is common as dirt all over the Niger Delta. Vinny Kitty recalls catching SJO as a child to feed to his cichlids.









Copyright 2022
Richard J. Sexton