Michel Keijman is an ‘Africaholic’ when it comes to fish, visiting more rivers than we’ve had hot dinners. Here are a few examples of what he collects, and where…
MICHEL KEIJMAN Michel is a cichlid expert who has spent considerable time collecting African fish in their natural habitats.
SINCE 1989, I’ve been collecting my own aquarium fishes. First, I travelled throughout Central America where I searched mainly for cichlids. Since 2006 I’ve been travelling to Africa, and more specifically the west of Africa, looking for cichlids in Ghana, Guinea and Cameroon. Here I want to show you some of Cameroon.
Knowing your way is an absolute must when visiting Africa. Because of the dry season — no rain and low rivers — I mostly visit Cameroon in February or March. There are a number of river systems, the largest being the Cross, Mungo, Sanaga, Nyong, and Ntem. These originate in the north, east or south of the country and all eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean.
A small river system that runs south-east of Douala is the Ndonga River system, which meanders through a landscape of plantations, and it’s there that my story begins.
Ndonga river
The Ndonga River system is about a one-and-a-half-hour drive to reach from Douala, and after 30 minutes of driving we traded asphalt road for a sandy path, which would take us into the vicinity of the Ndonga watershed.
At the point we arrived, the Ndonga River had two river arms. Downstream, these came together in a wide area, where the current was moderate. Upstream, there were sections where the flow was stronger, clearly visible in some of the rapids. We descended from the road to the bank of the Ndonga River.
Once there, we could see in the shallower areas that the bottom consisted of white-yellow sand. The water had a slight reddish-brown colour, due to the tannins dissolved in it. We measured the values and recorded a temperature of 27°C, conductivity 25.4, and 6.21pH. We could already see groups of Anubias and Bolbitis at various locations.
After measuring the parameters, it was time to look for fish. From the literature I knew that there had to be a rare variant of Pelvicachromis pulcher in this river system — remarkable because the distribution of this species is mainly in Nigeria, so I was curious what this variant would look like. Ngando and I drew a wide arc with the net and came together at the bank, only to slowly pull the net towards us.
Inside, we found Benitochromis nigrodorsalis, Pelvicachromis kribensis and pulcher, and a leaf fish called Polycentropsis abbreviata. Later that day we also caught
