Taxonomy & naming
Plataplochilus miltotaenia was originally described by Max Poll in 1953, and the valid authority is therefore recorded as (Poll, 1953). The species is placed in the family Procatopodidae — the African lampeyes — a group of small, iridescent killifishes confined to sub-Saharan Africa. Within Procatopodidae, Plataplochilus is a small genus of Gabonese and Cameroonian lampeyes. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes at the California Academy of Sciences records the authoritative taxonomy for the genus and species, with the CAS species record number 24541.
The specific epithet miltotaenia is derived from Greek and Latin roots: miltos (red ochre, vermillion) and taenia (band or stripe), a direct allusion to the conspicuous red or carmine lateral stripe that is the species' most immediately recognisable field mark. The genus name Plataplochilus combines the Greek platy (flat, broad) with aplocheilos (a reference form in African lampeye taxonomy), broadly indicating a flat-snouted or broad-headed relative within the lampeye lineage.
The type locality is the lower Ogowe and Komo River systems of Gabon, and all verified collection localities — including hobbyist codes such as Lambarene PK 19, Lambarene PK 30, EBT 96/24, and GEM 2020/8 — fall within Gabon, confirming the species as a strict Gabonese endemic.
Morphology
Plataplochilus miltotaenia is a small, slender killifish. FishBase records a maximum total length of 2 in TL and a common length of 1.5 in TL; the Encyclopedia of Life notes a variant maximum of 1.5 in, suggesting that many individuals in the wild or captivity are smaller. The body form is elongated and moderately compressed, typical of surface-oriented procatopodid lampeyes.
Colouration in males is striking. The body carries an electric-blue iridescence across the flanks, with yellow highlights visible in the unpaired fins. The most distinctive feature is a bold carmine or red-orange stripe running horizontally from the rear of the operculum to the caudal peduncle — the miltotaenia of the specific name. Above each eye sits the brilliant, reflective light-organ patch of iridescent blue-green that characterises the lampeye group as a whole; in good lighting this eye-patch produces a conspicuous flare. Females are considerably plainer, showing reduced iridescence and little or no red lateral stripe, an easily observed dimorphism that aids sex identification in the aquarium.
Habitat
The species is confined to the lower Ogowe and Komo River drainages of Gabon in central West Africa. All documented collection localities fall within this drainage — around Lambarene on the Ogowe and associated minor tributaries. The Ogowe basin drains a large section of the Congolian lowland rainforest, and Plataplochilus miltotaenia is found in the smaller, shaded watercourses — small streams, brooks, and swamps — within this system.
FishBase describes the habitat as small streams, brooks, rivers and swamps, with the species categorised as freshwater and benthopelagic (frequenting midwater and near-surface zones). Water chemistry data from FishBase records a pH range of 6.5–7.2 and a temperature range of 72–79 °F, consistent with warm, near-neutral forest waters. The species is non-migratory and occupies permanent water bodies — this is emphatically not a temporary-pool annual killifish but a species of stable, forested waterways that hold water year-round.
Feeding
Like most procatopodid lampeyes, Plataplochilus miltotaenia is a micro-predator of the water column and surface film. In the wild, lampeyes of this type feed predominantly on small invertebrates — aquatic insect larvae, microcrustaceans, and terrestrial insects that fall or drift onto the water surface. The benthopelagic habit noted in FishBase reflects a fish that roams the water column actively rather than hugging the substrate.
In the aquarium, the species accepts small live and frozen foods readily. Daphnia, Cyclops, Artemia nauplii, small bloodworm, and similar invertebrate foods form the core of a suitable diet. Dry foods are accepted if small enough and offered consistently from a young age. As with most lampeyes, varied feeding with multiple food types maintains condition and colouration in males.
Mating
Plataplochilus miltotaenia is a non-annual, continuous plant-spawning killifish — one of the lampeye procatopodids that breeds over extended periods in permanent water rather than producing diapausing eggs for seasonal drought. No diapause phase exists in this species. Tropical Fish Hobbyist contributor Charles Nunziata, writing on African plant-spawning killifish, describes the lampeye mode as continuous deposition of adhesive eggs among fine vegetation over a prolonged period, an approach that suits species living in stable forest streams where food for larvae is available throughout the year.
Male display involves the full expression of the electric-blue body iridescence and the carmine lateral stripe, intensified when competing with rival males or courting females. The reflective lampeye light-organ patches above the eyes are thought to function as intraspecific signals — prominent in the dim, shaded forest-stream environments the species naturally occupies. Courtship involves the male pursuing and positioning alongside the female before a brief lateral quivering embrace during which a single egg or small number of eggs are deposited.
Breeding
In spawning mode, the pair moves among fine-leaved aquatic plants or a spawning mop, with the female depositing individual adhesive eggs that adhere to plant filaments or fibres. Spawning bouts are brief and repeated across days and weeks — a typical lampeye female may produce a handful of eggs per session rather than a large clutch in a single event. This continuous trickle strategy, spread across the growing season, is the defining reproductive feature separating non-annual lampeyes from the annual killifishes whose entire reproductive effort is compressed into a brief wet season.
Eggs incubate in the aquatic environment (no peat burial required) and hatch after approximately 10–14 days depending on temperature, producing small but immediately free-swimming larvae capable of taking infusoria or the finest commercial fry foods from the outset. In the aquarium, a separate breeding tank or the isolation of spawning mops for incubation is advisable, since adults will consume eggs and small fry if given the opportunity. Growth is moderately rapid and juveniles can reach sexable size within a few months.
In the aquarium
FishBase flags Plataplochilus miltotaenia as difficult to maintain in the aquarium — a rating that places it among the more demanding lampeyes rather than a beginner species. This reflects in part its rarity in the trade (the American Killifish Association documents appearances in JAKA in 1983, 1989, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2009, and 2022, indicating a long but intermittent hobbyist presence) and in part the sensitivity common to forest-stream procatopodids to water quality and consistency.
A species aquarium of 15–20 US gal suits a small group. Water parameters should reflect the natural range: temperature 72–79 °F, pH 6.5–7.2, soft to moderately hard. Good oxygenation and moderate current through a gentle sponge filter, regular small water changes, and a densely planted or heavily mop-equipped tank reproduce the forested stream environment the species prefers. The tank should be covered securely — lampeyes are capable jumpers. Plataplochilus miltotaenia is best kept in a species group or with other small, non-aggressive fish; males display and spar but rarely cause serious injury.
The species remains a specialist's fish, rarely available outside killifish societies and AKA auctions, and most specimens in the hobby descend from the collection localities around Lambarene documented in the AKA database.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed Plataplochilus miltotaenia as Vulnerable (VU) on 16 February 2009, with the assessment credited to Moelants (published 2010). The taxon ID is 182152 and the assessment ID is 7818241. Vulnerable status reflects the species' narrow endemic range within Gabon's lower Ogowe and Komo drainages — an area that, while still largely forested, is subject to increasing pressure from logging, agriculture, and infrastructure development in the interior of the country.
As a species of small permanent forest streams, Plataplochilus miltotaenia is sensitive to sedimentation, run-off from cleared land, and any modification of riparian vegetation that alters the shaded, cooler microhabitat of its stream environments. The species has no documented tolerance of degraded water — unlike some tolerant West African species — and its small natural range means that even localised habitat loss could cause significant population decline. The hobbyist community, through the AKA and affiliated societies, maintains live stocks from several collection localities; this ex-situ presence provides a modest insurance population but cannot substitute for the protection of intact Gabonese forest streams.