One of the most influential killifish photos ever published was William Innes' early 20th century color photo of an adult male Blue Gularis in his classic book "Exotic Aquarium Fishes". It grabbed my attention as I poured over Innes' book again and again as a child in love with tropical fish. But it was not the main inspiration for me when it came to killifish. It was another Innes illustration; a killie that was then known as Aphyosemion sjoestedti and today is known as Callopanchax occidentalis. (Turns out the Blue Gularis was the real sjoestedti and not caeruleum as it was then known.)

The Golden Pheasant as Callopanchax occidentalis is commonly called is one of the most beautiful killies ever discovered, especially the old pre-1980's aquarium strain. The name Golden Pheasant perfectly describes the male's appearance, so reminiscent of the coloration of the famous bird species. Females of the old aquarium strain were even reddish in color (today's locations have brown females) and their eggs were a golden color.

If killifish were rare in stores in the 1960's, occidentalis was non-existent. When I joined the AKA in 1969, it was the first species I looked for every month in the Fish and Egg Listings. Three months in, AKA charter member, William Dyer offered young pairs for $5. I immediately ordered a pair. A week later, there they were in all their glory. I never tried to breed them. I was pleased just to sit and watch them.

Soon after joining the AKA, I learned about a second Callopanchax species related to occidentalis - Callo. toddi, the Blue Pheasant. (At that time, all these fish were reclassified into the newly created genus "Roloffia", which was sadly declared invalid as a scientific name in the mid-1970's.) The great German-American killie breeder, Willy Kaspar, a friend of Erhard Roloff, the German killie pioneer that put "Roloffia" species on the map with his many collecting trips to Sierra Leone, was the first member after I joined the AKA to offer toddi pairs to the membership. Other breeders soon followed Willy, but I would not obtain toddi until 1974 when the AKA's New Rare Species Committee offered pairs raised by member Tony Terceira. Toddi had almost disappeared from the US hobby in 1974 and Tony produced large numbers of fry to help in its hobby survival.

Toddi is exactly as its common name suggests, where occidentalis males are primarily red fish, toddi are a deep deep blue fish. They are also a bit more rounded in body shape when compared to occidentalis. The original location (Barmoi, Sierra Leone) of toddi is long gone from the hobby and the newer collections over the years have never equaled the beauty of the original. Hopefully, it can be re-introduced one day.

The most beautiful occidentalis I ever had came from AKA'er Norm Tolleferson of the San Francisco Bay Area. Norm had obtained them from a breeder in the UK in 1969. He sent a male and four females. They were outrageously prolific but the male ended up a murderer. On a Thanksgiving day while I was enjoying a family dinner, this male, unwatched, spawned 3 females to depletion and then killed them. There were so many eggs they floated on top of the peat moss. Six months later I was rewarded with a huge number of fry but at what a cost! (Today's locations of occidentalis are no where near this vicious.)

Breeding occidentalis is not difficult but tricky. Breed in slightly soft (5-6 KH and GH), slightly acid (6.😎, low tds (<150) water. The eggs must incubate 5 months in a peat moss-coir mix, maybe 6 months. The breeders need great food, especially chopped live blackworms and chopped earthworms. Not too much though, 4 feedings of such food each week when breeding among feedings of frozen adult brine shrimp, daphnia, bugbites, mosquito larvae and other good but lighter foods than worms. The worms aid fertility and thus good hatches. Too many and too heavy of worm feedings and Callopanchax get dropsey. The peat-coir mix should be stored moist but easily fluffable and at least a quart or more peat-coir should be used to incubate the eggs to help insure a stable storage environment. The storage bags should have air in them as plastic bags with live fish have. Fry grow very fast as these are true annuals and must be fed well. They reach adult size easily in three months.

Callopanchax are always in danger of disappearing from the hobby, especially today, so they always need dedicated breeders.
Robert Ellerman