Genus · Killifish

Congopanchax

Congopanchax is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Killifish section, recorded from Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 1 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
1 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2
Recorded from
2 countries

About the genus

Congopanchax is a small genus of lampeye killifish restricted to river systems of the Congo Basin, recorded here from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. The atlas covers 2 species, 1 in - tiny even by lampeye standards. Like other African lampeyes, these fish carry the reflective, light-catching upper iris that gives the group its common name, and they occupy still or slow-flowing forest and floodplain waters rather than fast current.

C. brichardi commemorates Pierre Brichard, the Belgian collector and exporter best known for his pioneering work bringing Lake Tanganyika cichlids into the aquarium trade, who was also active in surveying and exporting fish from the wider Congo Basin. Congopanchax itself, though, is a rare, specialist-only genus in the hobby, seen mainly among dedicated killifish keepers rather than general retail. Both species are currently Not Evaluated by IUCN, reflecting how little formal survey work has reached this part of the Congo Basin's small-fish fauna.

IUCN Red List: Not Evaluated · 2

The 2 species

Every Congopanchax recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

(Poll, 1959)

Brichard's lampeye

1 in TL · NE

(Poll, 1959)

Myers' lampeye, Hummingbird lampeye

1 in SL · NE

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Congopanchax. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/congopanchax/

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