he identification of Mocholkiella
paynei (Howes 1980), from Kassewe, central Sierra
Leone, West Africa.
During the late 1970's early 1980's
I frequently visited the Natural History museum in South
Kensington, initially to attend an evening class in ichthyology,
and then to do some simple research into the, African
catfish genus Synodontis, of which there are
many different specimens in the fish collection.
This was a fantastic, if somewhat macabre way to spend
your spare time. Rows and rows of jars full of type specimens,
(the original fish from which a species has been described),
ranging from the Corydoras paleatus brought back
by Darwin on the Beagle, to species yet to be described.
Early summer 1980 I had seen a
new catfish in some of the shops. It looked like a Synodontis,
but was it? I brought some and had the opportunity to
take a recently dead specimen. The course at the museum
had taught me that the skeleton could help with identification.
The body was laid in some fresh water outside and nature
did its work. Within a couple of weeks the hard bony plates
of the skeleton became visible. This method, although
primitive and not exactly scientific, was effective in
this case. (I do not think you would see the skeleton
of a tetra in this way).
Looking through my reference books,
this 'Synodontis' didn't match any of those covered, so
off to the museum's collection to see if I could find
it.
Gordon Howes was busy in the office,
so I had free reign to look through the collection for
my fish, jar after jar, shelf after shelf, rack after
rack. No luck, time for coffee. Gordon invited me to see
what he had been working on, a new catfish. Not a Synodontis,
but a new genus, Mocholkiella. I looked closely
at the specimens.. My Catfish! Gordon was just completing
the description. He had received three specimens from
Dr. Ian Payne in I970. After research in other collections,
to try to establish the identity of the specimens, the
description was published in 1980.
In identifying the specimens as the fish had at home,
we arranged that Gordon could come and see for himself
the living fish, and an extra bonus, the skeletal remains
I had been cleaning.
Further investigation with the retailer identified the
importer as Queensborough Fisheries at Wraysbury. A trip
to Wraysbury confirmed that the import came from Sierra
Leone, and gave Gordon more specimens to view.
As Gordon said in this article
for the Catfish Association of Great Britain, (CAGB),
in July 1980, "what a strange set of coincidences,
that after having waited around in the Museum collections
for so many years, this little catfish should have been
'discovered' by the aquarium trade. I think this is a
rather nice example of the co-operative effort between
ichthyologist and the aquarist."
You can also view this article
on the Dunstable
& District Aquarist Society web site.
Image: Allan James
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