Rev. 23-10-2015

Firstdescription:	Roloff, E.:	-"Aphyosemion bertholdi spec. nov., eine neue Aphyosemion-Art aus Sierra Leone (Vorläufige Mitteilung)."
		DATZ, Jg. 18, 12, p.362-364, December 1965.

Terra typica:-"Gesammelt von E. Roloff am 27. 11. 1962 in einem Urwaldbach, 10 Meilen nördlich von Kenema (Sierra Leone)."

Terra typica:-"Collected by E. Roloff the 27. 11. 1962 in a jungle brook, 10 miles north of Kenema (Sierra Leone)."

Fig. 1: -Female (l.) and Male (r.) of Scr. bertholdi "Kenema". Photo: E. Roloff.

Status: Valid species.

Etymologi: The species is named in honor of the German Karl Berthold, a friend of Roloff. Berthold was an expert fish breeder and a brilliant author of aquarium articles, two of these are availible in the library section.

Synonyms:	#Aphyosemion species SL 4
	Aphyosemion bertholdi Roloff, 1965
	Roloffia bertholdi (Roloff, 1965)

Description:

Meristics:

	SL mm	D	A	Sql	D/A	A/D
Holotype H 2860	39	14	17	31	7A	13D
Paratypes  H 2861	32	13	17	32
	28	13	17	32
Paratypes H 2862	40	13x4, 14x1	16x1, 17x4	31x2, 32x3
	40
	39
	38
	-
Variation	28-40	13-14	16-17	31-32
Mean	36,57	13,25	16,88	31,63

Meristics of Scr. bertholdi, holotype and 7 paratypes, all deposited in ZIMH (##Hamburg). SL=standard length in mm. D=Dorsal fin rays. A=Anal fin rays. Sql=Scales in a horisontal row.

The distance of first finray in D to the #snout tip ##Die Entfernung des 1. Strahls der D von der Schnauzenspitze verhäl t sich zur Entfernung von der Schwanzbasis wie 7:3. The first finray in D is above the 7th finray in A, the last finray in A is below the 13th D.

#Museum catalog numbers# Holotype : H 2860; Paratypes: H 2861, 2 males, H 2862, 5 females

Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 2897 (ROLOFF, 1965) Newton, Sierra Leone 6 ex.
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 2898 (ROLOFF, 1965) Lago, Kenema, Sierra Leone 2 ex.
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 3344 (ROLOFF, 1965) Newton, Sierra Leone 1 female
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 3336 (ROLOFF, 1965) 10 km n. Kenema, Sierra Leone 4 ex.
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 3337 (ROLOFF, 1965) Newton, Sierra Leone 1 male
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 4389 (ROLOFF, 1965) Bach bei Logo, Kenema, Sierra Leone 3 ex.
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 4811 (ROLOFF, 1965) Bäche hinter Bomi Hills, Liberia 1 male + 2 females
Roloffia bertholdi ZMH H 6117 (ROLOFF, 1965) 10 Meilen nördlich Kenema, Sierra Leone 2 ex.

WIE#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).}

Phenotype: Live coloration. Males. Lateral head blue with a slightly irregular red pattern typical for the endemic West African genera Archiaphyosemion, Callopanchax, Nimbapanchax, and Scriptaphyosemion and the related Epiplatys (Van der Zee 2002). Lips dark grey, red line around mouth along upper and lower lip, small dark grey dot at chin, iris of eye grey, dorso-anterior with blueish or blue-greenish hue, a light, reflecting ring around pupil. Dorsal from head to dorsal fin brownish, scales with some blue in centre and irregular red margins, forming an interrupted reticulated pattern. Flanks, unpaired fins and pelvic fins blue, dorsal and caudal fin centre often with a yellow hue, giving a more greenish impression of fin color. Red pigmentation on side in three to four very irregular stripes, consisting of red blotches, especially on caudal peduncle looking more like an interrupted reticulation. Unpaired and pelvic fins with a narrow blue margin, sometimes slightly lighter than color of fin centre and body; the blue margin is followed by a broad red submargin. On base of dorsal, anal, pelvic, and centre of caudal fin a small number of red blotches, pectoral fin transparent with a blue margin and a, more or less complete, red submargin.
Females. Body brownish, dorsally darker, on ventral half of side and belly orange. Pigmentation on head similar to males, but mostly darker brown instead of red. Midlateral dark brown stripe, interrupted and slightly irregular on caudal peduncle, scales in this dark stripe sometimes with small red scale margins; centre of unpaired and pelvic fins brown-orange, with a very narrow blueish margin, and a faint, narrow red submarginal, except on caudal fin. Above submarginal on anal and pelvic fins a small area with blueish or greenish hue, centre of dorsal fin with small red dots, basally larger than marginally. Pectoral fin transparent.^{(Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).}

Systematics:

Genetics: DNA studies by Rainer Sonnenberg places Scr. wieseae very close to Scr. bertholdi, in a group also comprising# Scr. chaytori and Scr. guignardi, the latter species is for the first time# included in this group.

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: 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. Scr. bertholdi is currently known from localities in the upland of northern Sierra Leone between the Sula and Wara Wara mountains, all of these are located within the Seli or Rokel River basin. Scr. bertholdi inhabits southeastern Sierra Leone and is found in river basins which enter the Atlantic ocean through the southern costal area, whereas Scr. wieseae inhabits the upper tributaries of the Seli or Rokel River, which enter the Atlantic ocean more to the north. The geographically closest Scriptaphyosemion species with regard to the known collection localities of Scr. wieseae is Scr. chaytori, to the north in Guinea it is Scr. guignardi (Busch 1995a)<sup>(Sonnenberg & Busch, 2012).

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

Variation: At present only the "SL 93-51, Victoria" population is distributed #.