Interesting lecture about Apistogramma

[themountain]

I dont know if anybody posted this up....very interesting lecture from Dr. Uwe Roemer 2012 in Lima
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=l5oJ5BlK

 

[Ekona]

Thanks for sharing.

Trivia Quiz - which species of apistogramma:

1. Live in a habitat of clumps of floating aquatic plants a.k.a "floating meadows"
2. Live in a habitat of pure sand (no branches, leaves or rocks or any other cover) by constructing holes in the sand
3. Live in a habitat consisting only of rocks

I found one answer to #1 - A. erythrura

 

[Mike Wise]

I have no idea why I can't view this. Anyway I can try to answer Ekona's questions.

1. Floating meadows are found mostly in small-medium sized rivers where the jungle doesn't extend to the shoreline. I've seen these in many rivers in Peru. Most apistos in these areas prefer hiding in and among the 'hydroponic' roods of the floating plants.

2. A. diplotaenia and A. cf. diplotaenia (Alto Orinoco)

3. Rocky apisto biotopes are uncommon. They only occur along the outer margins of the Amazon Basin. A. uaupesi isn't found 'exclusively' only among rocks, but commonly occurs along the edges of rapids in the its range. Other semi-rheophilic species include A. salpintion and A. sp. Mitú.

 

[Ekona]

Here is the link directly from YouTube:

 

[Ekona]

See 27:00 for the beginning of his discussion on the habitats of apistos, including the points made below from which I derived the trivia quiz.

1. "We have about 10 species that can only be found in drifting meadows...you will find specific species of apistos there that you won't find in any other place..."
2. "We have two species that are only living on sand...on the playas (the beaches)...pure sand...1.5 million fish in one colony..."
3. "We have found two species living in rocky areas, pure rock...."

 

[Ekona]

I'll add this one:
Ture or False: Apistogrammas have been known to gather in groups of up to a few hundred-thousand fish and migrate upstream during the period of falling water levels?

 

[Mike Wise]

I don't know about the number, but Uwe reported years ago of seeing mass migrations of A. uaupesi.

 

[gerald]

What constitutes "migration" in Uwe's concept? If they're just moving 1/2 mile from a shallow area where water is dropping to a deeper pool, or between floodplain and main channel, nearly all fish can do that. I'd call that seasonal movement, but not migration which implies longer distances.

 

[Ekona]

An interesting talk, much of it new to me. Thanks for the input, Mike. There are some interesting "factoids" from the presenter who has a lot of field experience. I wonder if anyone who has kept A. diplotaenia in captivity has ever observed them building holes in sand and using them as nesting sites. It would make for an interesting habitat aquarium, if they would actually do that.

Not sure about the exact definitions of "migrate" and "seasonal movement", but I see your point, Gerald. If apistos are ever found maintaining breeding grounds and territories in streams in Kalamazoo we'll know they "migrated" for sure

 

[madilynbo]

Thanks for sharing!