Beiträge von FranciscoB

Hi Basti,

These are not books but icthyological works on various groups within the very large genus Crenicichla. Some are useful to aquarists like myself, but are aimed at actual icthyologists. At least the 1st includes pictures of live specimens, which may be useful to you. I believe the links should be live, as they are for me. Enjoy, Francisco. [One day, "the book on Crenicichla will be available!]

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[HTML] Phylogenomics of pike cichlids (Cichlidae:  Crenicichla ) of the  C. mandelburgeri  species complex: rapid ecological speciation in the Iguazú River and high ...

L Piálek , E Burress , K Dragová, A Almirón, J Casciotta … - Hydrobiologia, 2019 - Springer

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[HTML] A review of the species of  Crenicichla  (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from the Atlantic coastal rivers of southeastern Brazil from Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul States, with…

SO Kullander , CA Lucena - Neotropical Ichthyology, 2006 - SciELO Brasil

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[HTML] A new pelagic predatory pike cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae:  Crenicichla ) from the  C. mandelburgeri  species complex with parallel and reticulate evolution

L Piálek , J Casciotta , A Almirón, O Říčan - Hydrobiologia, 2019 - Springer

Beautiful. I love the background wall !

I.t looks awesome now and will much more so as the plants continue to develop.

Congratulations Roswitha. Very nice tank with lots of potential.

Good luck with it and I look forward to seeing it populated and landscaped!

Cheers, Francisco

My single wild Pterophyllum dumerillii (long-nosed angelfish)

Species epithet should be "thoracatum" - Hoplosternum thoracatum, the Port Hoplo.

Has the genus name now been changed to Megalechis?

Beautiful fish. Thanks for sharing!

Absolutely v=beautiful. Never had them, but always wanted them. Not seen often for sale, at least in the USA.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

They have almost completely changed from their juvenile colors (lots of white specks) to quite close to the adult coloration.

I wish you continued good luck and success with them!

Francisco

For silver dollar enthusiasts -

In an interesting paper [Pagezy & Jegu 2002. Bull.Fr.Peche Piscic. 364: 49-60, free online], the authors describe the feeding ecology and cultural appreciation for the fish ("kumaru" - large silver dollars) and the fishery for them in the Wayana region of French Guyana.

Image 1 shows the 3 fish taxa discussed (names of genera not all up to date).
Image 2 shows the aquatic plant the fishes show the highest association with: Mourera fluviatilis (Podostemaceae), a recurrent element in the ecology of many herbivorous Serrasalmidae.

Image 3 shows depictions by Wayana children (ages 8-13) of the fishery, showing both bow-and-arrow, and standard line and hook fishing.

Figs 2 and 4 show awareness by the children of consumption by the fish of Podostemaceae plants on the rocks, whereas Figs 5 and 6 show awareness by the children of fish consumption of terrestrial fruit falling in the river from riverine fruit trees.

Rarely do we see such a vivid depiction of both the fish ecology and the cultural appreciation for them by the locals!
I enjoyed the article very much. Hopefully you will like it the excerpt too.

Hi All,

As currently established based on morphological revision (Schultz 1967), and fairly recent molecular phylogenetic analysis (Anderson 2016), there are 3 accepted species of angelfish in South America: P. scalare, P. altum, and P. dumerillii. (See also Baensch & Riehl books).
By far, the majority of what is seen in the hobby are P. scalare, including variants and commercially bred strains, and a few P. altum available from importers. Relatively rarely do we see Pterophyllum dumerillii, the Long-nosed Angelfish. Although not rare in its natural habitat, it is less common and very rarely available. [It is still sometimes referred to by its junior synonym, Pterophyllum leopoldi, described within my lifetime. Caltesnau’s name, honoring Dumerill, has precedence by over 100 years!]
I came across a single left-over wild-caught young fish at Absolutely Fish in NJ in 2017, and purchased it immediately. I knew it was special. It has grown to become a very beautiful fish as you can see in the pictures. It is very assertive, doesn’t bother others and doesn’t put up with crap from anybody. Notice the distinctive features: 1) long snout, caused in part by, 2) the total absence of pre-dorsal notch (continuous line of forehead), 3) the presence of the dark, blotch (not a stripe) between the mid-body and the posterior black vertical stripes.

Does anybody have specimens? Would you show them here? Heck, images of any other Angels would be cool too. Something you are proud of.

Cheers!

These guys love their seaweed, and the dollars used to like lettuce but no longer. I also believe nori is better for them, cheaper for me, less polluting, and closer to things they may eat in nature despite being marine. Also, this way they don't eat the aquarium plants.

Four tanks - 1) Silver dollars (Metynnis , 3 spp.), 2) Flagtail + friends, 3) M. boesemanni rainbows (young, growing up), 4) Congo + lemon + cardinal tetras (young, growing up). As shown, competition with bushy-nose plecos can be fierce, even if those get their own treats at night.

Cheers,

Francisco

Forgot the picture...

Hi Ramon,

I am glad you like them. I have been enjoying them very much.

Tank is a 125gal, somewhat planted. Tank mates are a weird assortment that came together in various unplanned manners: A single ~9-10 inch flagtail Prochilodus (S. cf. insignis), a long-nose angelfish (P. dumerillii, purchased as a single specimen left over at store), a single M. boesemanni rainbow (his mate died years ago), a pair of corys (C. aeneus), a single adult Congo tetra (P. interruptus, inherited), and 2 bushynose plecos. Coming in this weekend, after a month quarantine are 10 lemon tetras (H. puchripinnis). Picture of tank attached just for kicks.

Cheers!

Francisco

Thanks Foxi. I am certainly enjoying them very much.

Here is the picture of the 4 fish (couldn't attach it before...).

Cheers!

[I know old thread]

I feel sorry you did not get the fish you expected (H. gracilis). However, what you got are beautiful fish!

I had not read this [now old] thread prior to posting a new one earlier today (see recent posts).

I do not think these are H. gracilis that have lost their red tinge. In my experience, H. gracilis stays small (3-5 inches maximum). The fish I posted about this morning (picture attached here are over 6 inches].

D.oes anybody have H. gracilis as large as 6 inches? I would be surprized if that is the case....

accidentally added one picture twice. Here are the 4 fish...

One of my favorite fish, unfortunately not that frequently seen (in my neck of the woods). The one species seen somewhat commonly is the red tail Hemiodus (H. gracilis from Guyana/Brazil said to grow to ~6 inches but usually much smaller in aquaria. I don’t have any of those but will love to get some, and to see pictures of yours.
Below are what I think are single-spot Hemiodus (H. unimaculatus), from Venezuela/Guianas/Brazil, although another possibility (less likely) is that they are the Paraguay Hemiodus (H. orthonops). I have had hem for about 2 years and have grown from 2.5inch to presently ~6 inches.
The single spot mid-body becomes one with an on-off gray/black line connecting the spot with the fork of the tail, which is mood-dependent.
Beautiful, fast schooling swimmers (hard to photograph!), prompt to jump, and very aggressive eaters, yet gentle and well mannered, not eating smaller fish or picking on anybody. They eat everything offered although supposedly are primarily aufwuchs-eaters. A delight to have. My four fish may include 2 males and two females judging by the tinge of reddish on the tails of two of them, versus the silver/white tail of the other two.

Got any Hemiodus of any kind? Would you show them here?
Cheers!

Hi Markus,

Absolutely beautiful fish and tank, and superb photography.

When I saw the first picture of your Metynnis lippincotianus, I said to myself - Wait, my lippincotianus do not look like that ! - Not because of their mood (being at the moment in breeding coloration or not), but because they did not have the humeral spots (one black, one red, adjoining each other) as my own fish, and the majority of what I have seen as M. lippincotianus .

But then, you brought up the issue yourself, and posted pictures of your new ones (with the humeral spots), which look just like my fish. I believe 2 closely related species (or varieties) are in the hobby under M. lippincotianus, and the nomenclature has not quite caught up with that yet. The recent revision of the genus Metynnis (Otta 2015) does not have both forms.

Some of my fish (but not much of my 3 M. lippincotianus) can be seen on an earlier thread (Mixed Metynnis dollars ( 3 spp) DO NOT eat my plants)

I also have some M. maculatus, which are now about 20 years old, and a single male M. altidorsalis.

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you both. I certainly enjoy them. I need to get larger tanks!

Hi,

I have lurked in the past, never posted before. Hi to all.

75gal planted tank with 8 silver dollars (Metynnis spp.): 4 M. maculatus, 3 M. lippincotianus, Metynnis sp.

They do not eat my plants (3 different crypts, java far, others). All decorations in tank are natural. Only plants eating duckweed (see floating corral), placed there for this very purpose. They provide all kinds of plant based and animal based foods that I provide, just not my planted plants.

Go figure!