Rev. 21-10-2018

Firstdescription:	Sonnenberg, R. & Busch, E.:	-"Description of Scriptaphyosemion wieseae (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species from northern Sierra Leone."
		Bonn zoological Bulletin, 61 (1): p.13–28, 2012.

Terra typica:-"Sierra Leone, Lenghe Curoh, Sanghi or Sanigi River, field number SL 03/16 (9°28,04’ N, 11°40,58’ W), E. Busch and B. Wiese, 18. Nov. 2003."

Fig. 1: -Male of Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh, SL 93-37". Photo: A. Persson.	Fig. 2: -"Female of Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh, SL 93-37". Photo: A. Persson.

Status: Valid species.

Etymologi: The new species is named after Barbara Wiese, who accompanied the second author on most of his research trips in West Africa and was the first who recognized it as a new Scriptaphyosemion species. ^{(Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).}

Synonyms:	Roloffia species "Lenghe-Curoh, SL 93/37"
	Aphyosemion species "Lenghe-Curoh, SL 93/37"
	Scriptaph. bertholdi "Lenghe-Curoh, SL 93/37"

Description:

Meristics:

Holotype

Paratypes mean

Paratypes mean

all Types mean

all Types range

all Types SD

SL	36.0	25.1	24.7	25.6	21.5-36.0	4.0
TL	119.7	124.4	122.5	123.2	119.7-127.0	2.2
HL	26.3	26.6	26.9	26.7	25.1-28.9	1.3
PD	66.0	65.1	64.9	65.0	61.2-67.8	2.0
pPED	27.7	27.4	27.9	27.6	25.9-29.8	1.1
pPD	45.3	47.2	46.6	46.8	44.7-49.4	1.3
pAD	57.3	57.8	57.5	57.7	54.9-59.8	1.5
DB	19.5	19.8	19.3	19.6	18.7-21.7	0.8
DC	12.3	11.9	11.4	11.7	10.9-12.3	0.5
CL	23.3	22.4	22.5	22.5	21.1-23.6	0.7
BD	17.6	16.3	15.7	16.1	14.4-17.6	1.0
BA	21.1	20.4	19.1	19.8	17.9-21.5	1.0
E	5.4	6.5	6.5	6.4	5.4-7.3	0.5
I	11.2	9.5	9.6	9.7	8.6-1.2*	0.6

Morphometrics of Scriptaphyosemion wieseae, new species. Values in the table are based on 15 specimens, for which
all measurements and counts were taken (7 of each male and female paratypes). All measurements in percentages of standard length
(SL) except standard length in mm. TL = total length, HL = length of head, PD = predorsal fin distance, pPED = prepectoral fin
distance, pPD = prepelvic fin distance, pAD = preanal fin distance, DB = greatest body depth, DC = caudal peduncle depth, CL =
length of caudal peduncle, BD = base of dorsal fin, BA = base of anal fin, E = eye diameter, I = interorbital width, SD = standard
deviation.^{* possibly 8.6-11.2 (Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).}

Snout slightly pointed, mouth directed upwards, lower jaw longer than upper jaw, posterior end of rictus at the level of the dorsal third to centre of eye. Teeth curved and unicuspid, on dentary an outer row of larger teeth, inner rows more or less regular with smaller teeth. Premaxilla with an outer row of larger teeth and a small number of short teeth irregularly on the inner part. Closed frontal neuromast system within one groove, preopercular neuromast system with 5 pores.
Scales cycloid, body and head completely scaled, except for ventral surface of head. Frontal squamation of Gtype; scales on lateral line 27–30 + 2–3 scales on caudal fin base. Transverse rows of scales above pelvic fin 9; circumpeduncular scale row 12–14.

Tips of dorsal, anal, and, in some males, also caudal fin slightly pointed, but no filamentous extensions, caudal fin truncate. Fins in females are generally smaller and more rounded. Dorsal and anal fin origin posterior to mid-body. First dorsal fin ray posterior to origin of anal fin, situated above anal fin ray 4–6. Dorsal fin with 12–13 rays, anal with 16–17 rays, caudal fin with 25–28 fin rays. Pectoral fin rounded, fin origin on ventral half of side, just posterior to operculum, directed posteriorly, not reaching pelvic fin origin. Pelvic fin small, origin ventrally, directed posteriorly, not or just reaching anal fin origin. Total number of vertebrates 29–30, of which 13–14 have pleural ribs and 15–16 have haemal spines.^{(Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).
Genetics: #DNA study by Sonnenberg places ####
Phenotype: #}

Systematics:

Phenotype: Description of closely related species. (With focus on differences between species).

Scr. bertholdi: Steel blue body coloration with red dots which generally are smaller than the scales. Throat is white with no red pattern. Unpaired fins are green-blue with red sub marginal bands and white to light blue marginal bands, never yellow marginal bands in caudal fin.
Distribution: Is known from the Sewa, Waanje, Moa and Lofa? drainages. Is normally found at higher altitudes (inland plateau) but a few populations were discovered at lower altitudes.
Scr. chaytori: Body side blue with red spots, normally larger than scales. Red spots are often arranged in a zigzag or check board pattern. Throat is normally white with no red pattern (2 populations have few red dots at the throat). With a red vertical border in caudal fin. Unpaired fins are green-blue with red sub marginal band and white to light blue marginal bands, yellow or blue marginal bands in caudal fin.
Distribution: The 2 closest populations (Masankori and Kamabai), are from tributaries to the Little Scarcies River. Lowland species, have not been collected above 150 m.
Scr. guignardi: Light blue to green body coloration with red dots which normally are smaller than the scales. Dots are ocasionally arranged in a chevron pattern. Throat is white with no red pattern. Unpaired fins except the anal fin are green-blue with red sub marginal bands and white to light blue marginal bands, never yellow marginal bands in caudal fin. The anal fin are green-blue with a black marginal band, but some populations or specimens have red sub-marginal bands.
Distribution: Guinea-Mali-Burkina Faso.##

#Scr. wieseae: Blue body coloration with red dots which generally are smaller than the scales. Red pattern is arranged in 2 horizontal lines. Red lines at white throat. Unpaired fins are green-blue with red sub marginal band and white to light blue marginal bands, never yellow marginal bands in caudal fin.
Distribution: The 3 known populations were found in tributaries to the Seli or Rokel drainage. Inland plateau species.#
Kropside Som oftest er over i det ##, . Det faktum at Scriptaph. species "Lenghe-Curoh" lever syntopt eller sympatrisk ? med Archiaph. guineense, viser at den har samme biotopvalg som Scriptaph. bertholdi, hvilket også tyder på at populationen kan henføres til Scriptaph. bertholdi.
The male Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh" differs from Scr. bertholdi by throatpattern and body coloration. The throat of the male has a lot of red pigment, a trait only known from Scr. geryi (totally red throat), from Scr. chaytori "Nom-Mussiray, SL93/38" (a few red lines) and Scr. chaytori "Gbogonma, SL85/9b" (a few red spots) and Cal. monroviae (a complex pattern of lines and spots). #Som oftest er over i det #lyseblå# hos BER, . #The male has more red pigment on the flanks than has Scr. bertholdi#, the red pigment is #sometimes more or less arranged in 2-3 horisontal lines. Females of Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh" can not be separated from Scr. bertholdi or Scr. chaytori females.
The fact that Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh" lives syntoptic with Arch. guineense, reveals that it prefer the same type of habitat as Scr. bertholdi, which also indicates that the species is closely related to Scr. bertholdi.

#

Distribution: #Distribution and habitat. Scriptaphyosemion wieseae is currently known from three localities in the upland of northern Sierra Leone between the Sula and Wara Wara mountains (Fig. 1); all of these are located within the Seli or Rokel River basin. At the collection localities Fadugu (SL 03/15) and Lenghe Curoh (SL 03/16), S. wieseae is present in small rivers, at the former place together with Epiplatys cf. njalaensis, Archiaphyosemion guineense, undetermined characids, gobies, and cyprinids, probably Barbus leonensis, B. stigmatopygus and a small undetermined Barbus specimen; at the latter place it was collected together with A. guineense. At Kabala (SL 03/17), only a small number of mostly juvenile specimens were collected in large rice swamps. The second author visited this area two times, in 1993 and 2003, and noticed an intensified agricultural land usage. Collections of the second author during four collection trips between 1989 and 2003 suggest that there is no overlap of the distribution areas of S. bertholdi and S. wieseae (Fig. 1). Scriptaphyosemion bertholdi inhabits southeastern Sierra Leone and is found in river basins which enter the Atlantic ocean through the southern costal area (Huber 2007; Wildekamp 1993; Wildekamp & Van der Zee 2003), whereas S. wieseae inhabits the upper tributaries of the Seli or Rokel River, which enter the Atlantic ocean more to the north (Fig. 1). The geographically closest Scriptaphyosemion species with regard to the known collection localities of S. wieseae is S. chaytori (Fig. 1), to the north in Guinea it is S. guignardi (Busch 1995a; Wildekamp & Van der Zee 2003; own unpublished collection data)^{(Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).}

The discovery by Rob Palmer in 2013 of a species similar to Scr. bertholdi in the Tonkolili drainage, only some 40 km south of Scr. wieseae populations, is very interesting. The Tonkolili River is a tributary to the Rokel or Seli River, as is the Mabakah River and Sanghi River where Scr. wieseae is found. This discovery questions the secluded position and there is probably an unbroken chain of populations between type localities of the two species.

Variation: At present only the "SL 93-37, Lenghe-Curoh" population is distributed #.

Fig. 3: -"Male of Scr. wieseae "Lenghe-Curoh"?, the red pattern of the throat is just visible. Photo: C. Grimes.

Literature:

#1. Busch, E.:	-"Briefliche mittteilung an O. Bangsmark."
	3pp. 1994
#2. Busch, E.:	-""SL 93" - Eine erneute Sammelreise nach Sierra Leone im Überblick."
	DKG-Journal, Jg. 27 (5), p.69-74, 1995.
#3. Sonnenberg, R. & Busch, E.:	-"Description of Scriptaphyosemion wieseae (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae), a new species from northern Sierra Leone."
	Bonn zoological Bulletin, 61 (1): p.13–28, 2012.