My Experience Witk Cameronensis 



CHARLES H. ROHRBACH 



Haplochilus cameronensis. What a 

 big name for such a little fish. It is 

 really amusing to me to show my beau- 

 ties to friends and pronounce the name 

 for their benefit. They never try to re- 

 peat it after me. Friend Wife, however, 

 has invented a nickname, and now my 

 pets are known as the "Happy" family — 

 Daddy Happy, Mamma Happy and the 

 little Happies, and so long as this name 

 distinguishes this family from the others 

 it serves its purpose well. 



Among the exotic fishes which have 

 afforded me pleasure to breed, this Hap- 

 lochilus is undoubtedly the most beauti- 

 ful. The brilliant colors, unusual shapes 

 of fins and supple body must make it a 

 favorite with anyone. Without giving a 

 lengthy description of colors and the 

 formulse of fins and scales, the features 

 that attract attention are the lyre-shaped 

 tail with stripes of orange, purple, red 

 and blue; the dark blue body spotted 

 with red; the orange-like pectorals, in- 

 cessantly waving, and the blue eyes 

 always alert to see every movement 

 within and without the aquarium. These 

 brilliant colors and the lyre tail are char- 

 acteristics of the male. The female, 

 while of the same general shape, has a 

 simple fan-shaped tail and fins of a very 

 ordinary greenish hue. 



In its manner of swimming by quick 

 darts with scarcely perceptible fin move- 

 ment, again stopping still and merely 

 waving the pectorals, or turning with 

 head and body in a graceful curve, 

 cameronensis recalls like habits of our 

 other favorite, the Paradise Fish, which, 

 however, is much broader and larger. 



The ichthyologist tells us that this spe- 



cies is a native of West Africa, in the 

 French Kongo and Kamerun (Came- 

 roon) ; hence the specific name cameron- 

 ensis, meaning of Cameroon. The spe- 

 cies will breed in the aquarium during the 

 late spring and summer, when the water 

 may be maintained at a uniform tem- 

 perature of about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 The adhesive eggs stick to the plants 

 with which the tank should be abun- 



Haplochilus cameronensis 



Photograph by Lee S. Crandall 



dantly supplied. Period of incubation, 

 ten days to two weeks. They do not 

 seem to be difficult to propagate or my 

 efforts would not have culminated suc- 

 cessfully. 



My tanks, two of three gallons each, 

 were well planted with Sagittaria subu- 

 lata and Anacharis, and placed in a 

 sunny situation so that algae formed 

 quickly and gave the water a light green 

 tinge, but not sufficient to render them 

 unsightly. From a distance of six or 

 eight feet I have watched them court- 

 ing, for they are shy in their love-mak- 



