Ladigesia roloffi
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladigesia
Overview
Ladigesia is monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Alestidae, the African tetras. The only species in the genus is Ladigesia roloffi, the Sierra Leone dwarf characin, is a species that is found in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Africa. The fish was named in honor of German aquarist Erhard Roloff (1903–1980), who collected the type specimen.
They are a social species generally living in schools at mid depths and surface level fresh water. It lives for five years. Ninety-seven percent of their natural habitat has been lost.
Ladigesia roloffi faces severe population decline due to extensive deforestation and agricultural conversion throughout its limited West African range. Mining activities and urban expansion have further fragmented the remaining forest patches where this species occurs. The combination of habitat destruction and the species' apparent ecological specialization has pushed populations to critically low levels across Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
Habitat
This species inhabits primary and secondary tropical rainforests in the Upper Guinea forest region of West Africa. It appears to prefer dense forest understory environments with high humidity and stable microclimatic conditions.
