In 1935 Ahl obtained fish from a commercial shipment identified as "Calabar" - the capital city of Cross River State, in Southern Nigeria, near the Cameroon border. "Kalabari", however, also refers to a specific tribe in the region. The Kalabari people are Ijaw speaking settlers that were originally fishermen before the coming of the Portuguese to the West African coastline. The Kalabari, like most Nigerian coastline tribes, traded with Europeans; there are some Ijaw who consider the Kalabari as a different ethnic group and vice versa. Historically Kalabari settlements have always been close to a river, because they believed their powers came from deities in the water.
 In 1935, the ichthyologist Ernst Ahl described under the name of “Aphyosemion calabaricus” fishes he had obtained in the commercial circuit and which had been presented as coming from "Calabar" in the area of the Niger delta. This fish was then reproduced and distributed to aquarists under the name of Aphyosemion calabaricum, and much later Roloffia calabarica. (the breeding of killifish did not start in the 70’s as is often thought…).
In 1965, the ichthyologist Stenholt Clausen collected in Liberia, about twenty miles from the capital city Monrovia, one male and three females of a fish which, according to his observations and those of Jorgen Scheel, presented all the characteristics of the "calabaricus". The real origin of the "calabaricus" was therefore becoming clearer. Jorgen Scheel considered that this fish was Aphyosemion liberiensis and the "calabaricus" then became among aquarists the "liberiensis old Aquarium Strain" (old AS).
Little by little, after the many discoveries of new species of killifish, fewer and fewer aquarists kept this "liberiensis old Aquarium Strain" and it was considered to have disappeared from aquariums in the 80’s.
But, in the early 2000’s, it was realized that american aquarists in the San Francisco area, Than Nguyen and Bill Gallagher, were still maintaining "old Aquarium Strain liberiensis". Their fish were definitively identified as being of the old strain of "calabaricus" by Robert Ellermann, an experienced american killifish breeder who had raised it himself in the early 1970’s. After research, it turned out that this fish had been brought to San Francisco by Erhard Roloff in 1969 under the name "Roloffia calabarica" but that this name had been changed to "liberiensis" after Jorgen Scheel's conclusions about its real identity. (thanks to Robert Ellermann for all these informations)
After this “rediscovery”, particular efforts of reproduction and diffusion of this old stock were made in the United States, and this fish returned to the aquariums of the whole world. In memory of this story, it is released today as Scriptaphyosemion “liberiensis calabaricus”, or “calabaricus”. (the name of "calabarica", feminine declination of calabaricus was used for a time when this fish had been attached to the feminine genus Roloffia, now invalidated). (Scriptaphyosemion genus was created in 1987).
Another proof that killifish strains can be maintained for a long time in aquariums. In this case since 1935, almost a century….
Personnal comment:
Scriptaphyosemion, as Aphyosemion, is a Latin neutral gender so it should be calabaricum and not calabaricus, as it is the case for example with Aphyosemion congicum.
- Adapted from an article by Ken Lazara, the EtyFish project
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What few people know is that this fish - shown here in Dr. Walter Foersch's classic 1950's photo - is the oldest surviving, single source collection of a species of killifish - probably of any aquarium fish - in the hobby. It began its hobby existence as Aphyosemion calabaricum, then Roloffia calabarica, then Aphyosemion calabaricus and, finally, Scriptaphyosemion liberiensis "calabaricus". It was the first of the "Roloffias" imported into the hobby into Germany in 1935. Stunningly, that single collection survived WWII in Germany and later made its way into the wider hobby. It made it to the US in the 1950's through the efforts of German breeders such as the legendary Karl Berthold and, of course, Erhard Roloff. These men sent breeding stock to German born US killie aquarists such as Franz Werner and Richard Buettner and they bred and distributed them. By the time the AKA was formed in 1962, the then "calabaricum" was one of the few available killies and beloved. This held true until the 1980's, when it seemed to disappear.
Its disappearance was due to the disdain with which mere "aquarium strains" of killifish species came to be held starting in the late 1970's. Once the population identity push in labeling killies took hold, any old species that lacked that assumed superiority was largely relegated to the dustbin of aquarium keeping. Oddly enough, many of those old, "inferior" (according to scientists) aquarium strains were of better quality than new wild collections and the care they had received from decades of captive breeding by great aquarists had produced big, beautiful and robust strains. But "A. calabaricus" was an aquarium strain so it was now considered second rate.
In addition, it lost its species status. It was decided that it was merely a population of Scriptaphyosemion liberiensis and this decision began to erase its unique history in the hobby as new, known locations of A. liberiensis were collected and introduced. By the 21st century it was believed to be long gone but it wasn't.
In the early 2000's, I received photos from Bill Galagher of an A. liberiensis kept in the San Francisco area since 1969. Bill asked what I thought it was. I immediately recognized it as the long lost "A. calabaricus". I was stunned! How? Bill said it was just called A. liberiensis "aquarium strain" by Bay Area killie hobbyists but its source was Erhard Roloff himself. When Roloff was invited to be the keynote speaker at the AKA Convention in Palo Alto,
Ca. in 1969 (where his work with "Roloffias" was insulted by George S. Myers), he brought 2 pairs of his strain of "A. calabaricus" (it dated back to the original 1935 import into Germany as it was a personal favorite of Roloff's). The local AKA'ers in the Bay Area had kept this Roloff strain going under the radar for over 30 years. It was lost behind the simple "aquarium strain" label but it was the long lost "calabaricus". Thus "A. calabaricus" has survived in the hobby for 90 years! No other killifish species comes close to having such historical significance.
I recognized it as the true "A. calabaricus" as I had kept and bred it in the 1970's from stock obtained from the late Ray Hueckstaedt of Michigan. One can trace color photos of "A. calabaricus" from the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's and the fish never changed. It has stayed the same for 90 years.
A. Scriptaphyosemion liberiensis "calabaricus"A. calabaricus". They are great permanent community breeders. Fry are ignored. I've raised 100's in one tank this way.
This rare population of A. liberiensis must not be allowed to disappear again. It should become the mascot of aquarium conservation efforts - it has earned it.
Robert Ellerman - 2025
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