Looking for: Nannostomus marilynae

[PhilipAG]

As the title says I'm looking for people that are able to give me an address or someone that imports the species.
I'm setting up a biotope tank with A. mendezi and this is the pencilfish that I'm looking for.
It's quite hard to find someone and if I see there's someone, that's always dating of a couple of years ago.
So I'd like to ask you guys f you just know about anyone, someone reliable.

Philip

 

[Mike Wise]

Really can't help you with this species. I've had it in the past. As far as I know it only appears as bicatches in shipments of other pencilfish from the Negro, usually N. trifasciatus.

 

[PhilipAG]

Alright, thanks for the answer anyway. I'll look for retailers that recently ordered some N. trifasciatus and see if there are some other species that were imported with them.

Where did you bought them, when you still had them?

 

[Mike Wise]

Bought them in LFS over the decades 70s-90s, but haven't seen many bicatches - or Negro pencilfish - locally for about 15 years. My city is a desert for unusual fish!

 

[Tom C]

In addition to the Rio Negro, Nannostomus marilynae also has been collected on several locations in Colombia. One of these known locations is Cano Muco, about 15 kilometers west of Puerto Gaitan, toward Puerto Carreno, state of Meta, Colombia. (The Cano Muco is a tributary of the Rio Vichada, which is itself a tributary of the Orinoco River.)

More often than not, when I've found N. marilynae here in Europe, I've found them in shipments from Colombia.
So I would definately look for them in shipments from Colombia, too.

If you cannot find Nannostomus marilynae, creating a Rio Negro habitat could also be done with any of these Nannostomus-species, they all occur in the Rio Negro:

N. marginatus
N. eques
N. unifasciatus
N. beckfordi (lower part)
N. digrammus (lower part)
N. trifasciatus
N. harrisoni (has been reported from the Rio Negro, but not verified).

so there shouldn't be impossible to find some of the "right" species!

Why not look for the beautiful colorform of Nannostomus marginatus which inhabits the Rio Negro:

Good luck!

 

[PhilipAG]

Mike, what apity it's been that a long time ago. Maybe someone should start breeding them succesfully so it could be spread amoung the hobbyists.


Tom, that's very interesting, I never found anything about their type locality in Colombia. That information can really help me finding them in the (near) future. At which retailers did you often see these fish pass by?
According to these othere species, I already thought about them if it would really be impossible to get the N. marilynae.
If I'd do so I'd be more fond of the ones that haven't got a colourful body because I think it would be to much colour together compared with the A. mendezi. I'd like to have a darker tank with just a few fish(Apistos in this case) that have a real heavy coloured body and the pencilfish to have more darkish colours. Or colours like the N. marilynae.(Unfortunatly the digrammus doesn't occur at Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira. Or am I wrong?)

 

[Tom C]

There were retailers in Norway and in the UK.

In a dark tank the Nannostomus would hardly show enough colour to distract from the Apistos... especially if you'll go for the N. marginatus, N. eques, or N. unifasciatus.

Nannostomus digrammus have been reported from the Rio Madeira up into the Rio Guapore between Brazil and Bolivia, from the Rio Negro around Manaus, the Rio Branco system, the Rio Urubu 25 miles from Itcoatiara, the Rio Purus (Boca de Tapaua), and from the Lago Grande do Manacapuru, all in Brazil, and from the Rupununi system in Guyana.

But of course; Fingers crossed you'll find some N. marilynae!

 

[PhilipAG]

Could you please PM me some of the specialised retailers in the UK? I know some of them, but not all.
And I know more about the good retailers in Belgium and the Netherlands.

And yes! I hope I'll find them (soon). That would be great and maybe I could help some others getting these.

But one question, it spooks in my head all day long, how will I ever manage to see if it's the right Nannostomus-species. It could be the case that some of them are given the wrong name.
Most similar species are sperated by telling the amount of the fin rays in the backfin. But that's nearly impossible to tell at the retailer. Does somenone have any tips.

Right here I've got a list of a lot of Nannostomus species. Maybe we could sort them out, in the beginning it's quite easy, but I think towards the end it will be more difficult to see differences between the species obviously:


Nannostomus

anduzei
beckfordi
bifasciatus
britskii
digrammus
eques
espei
grandis
harrisoni
limatus
marginatus
marilynae
minimus
morenthaleri
nitidus
rubrocaudatus
trifasciatus
unifasciatus

I'll cross out these ones you can easily seperate from N.marilynae.

 

[Mike Wise]

How good are you at meristics? The original descriptions are available for each species if you look hard enough. Unfortunately (at least for the fish), a good and accurate identification many times will require a preserved specimen.

 

[PhilipAG]

I 've never had to identify a species this way before, but I could search for some methods to acquire some skill.
It were always bigger differences what made it quite easier.

I 've got some detailed desriptions including meristics, so that won't be the problem.
And I see, but then I should always one of a group that I suspect are N. marilynae, or isn't that what you mean?
Normally I don't do that, but right now I think it shall be necessary. So I 'll look for some futher information.

 

[PhilipAG]

I think I found some Nannostomus marilynae.
Living Waters in the UK say they have got some. I spoke with Darren on the LFKC forum.
They could offer me 8 N. marilynae.
Here's the picture from their site:

Living_Waters by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr

I looked at the tailfin had some similarities with the one from the article of Smithsonian libraries(these black and white stripes):
SMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


But also Wildfangaquario said they had got some too, so I asked them to take pictures and this were the ones I recieved:

Wildfangaquario_3 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


Wildfangaquario_2 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


Wildfangaquario_1 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


Do you agree this are the real Nannostomus marilynae?

 

[Tom C]

The first picture definetly looks like Nannostomus marilynae, although I cannot see the analfin (nor an adipose fin) to assure that it's not a N. minimus or N. digrammus.

The other photos could show Nannostomus marilynae, but unfortunately they are too blurry to be used for identification...

 

[PhilipAG]

I will get a photo from the fish from England tonight. Darren from LivingWaters is really doing his best, but he has got an older type of camera.
The guy with the fish from Germany hasn't got any material to make some better photos.
I hope he can manage to make some better one way or an other.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[PhilipAG]

New photos from the fish that will come from England, you can see an adipose fin:

2 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


3 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr


4 by Philip AG Shaw, on Flickr