Apistos from Rio Xingu

[apistobob]

Does anyone know if there are any Apistos coming from the Xingu? Will there ever be? It's been many years since I've seen any. Did the completion of the Belo Monte Dam have the negative impact feared? Does anyone know what the status is of the species that were found near Altimira? I don't think the area was ever collected very much. Is there any collecting there today?

Thanks

Bob

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[MacZ]

Du hast nach xingu gesucht - Aquarium Glaser GmbH

www.aquariumglaser.de

Maybe this helps you to a degree. Glaser is usually a good indicator for collection activity.

 

[apistobob]

Du hast nach xingu gesucht - Aquarium Glaser GmbH

www.aquariumglaser.de

Maybe this helps you to a degree. Glaser is usually a good indicator for collection activity.

Thanks,

I'd already seen this and it looks like they have not had much from the Xingu for years.

 

[Mike Wise]

IMHO the Belo Monte dam has affected ornamental fish collecting in the area. We see occasional species from the lower Xingu like A. cf. agassizii and A. sp. Xingu, but we don't see species that were collected from the area around Altamira. Two that I once had were A. sp. Blauspiegel (A 230), an amazing fish and A. sp. Chao (A 42) haven't been seen since the dam's construction as far as I know. Habitats for these were mostly destroyed by the reservoir behind the dam.

 

[apistobob]

IMHO the Belo Monte dam has affected ornamental fish collecting in the area. We see occasional species from the lower Xingu like A. cf. agassizii and A. sp. Xingu, but we don't see species that were collected from the area around Altamira. Two that I once had were A. sp. Blauspiegel (A 230), an amazing fish and A. sp. Chao (A 42) haven't been seen since the dam's construction as far as I know. Habitats for these were mostly destroyed by the reservoir behind the dam.

Thanks Mike,

That's pretty much what I thought. It would sure be great if A. sp. Blauspiegel would someday be available. I never kept them at the time but your article in the BB was great.

There have never been many species from the Xingu which always surprised me because it's such a big system. Do the tributary rivers have Apistos? How about the Iriri River? Are export controls (white list/black list) part of the reason that we don't see many fish from the region?

 

[MacZ]

Do the tributary rivers have Apistos? How about the Iriri River?

Yes, they should, as the Genus is so widespread in South America it's rather hard to find a River basin without any Apisto species.

Are export controls (white list/black list) part of the reason that we don't see many fish from the region?

Brazil is developing quickly and the Xingu is quite far in the east, so there is simply a lot of development happening there in the region. People have been deplaced by the dam project, settlements are much denser nowerdays. Ornamental fish seem to have not been as much of a factor.
The positive list policy, while frustrating is still better than unregulated trade. But it can be expanded I think.

 

[Mike Wise]

Several species have been found in the upper Xingu drainage recently, like A. kullanderi, A. flavipenduncula, and A. eleutheria, along with forms of A. taeniata-like species from the Rio Curuá, a tributary of the Rio Iriri. Interestingly most of these fish were found by survey teams evaluating the upper Xingu for development like that which occurred around Altamira and in the Rio Trombetas (A. salpinction & A. angayuara) - also now a hydroelectric dam.