Magic moments in the Amazon

[Tom C]

In the Amazon, in the national park of Pacaya Samiria, Peru, going up the Rio Pacaya (Rio Ucayali-drainage):

we can see on the dark markings on the trees how high the water actually stands during the rain-season:

We pass lots of Cormorants

many forms of Herons:

and other wading birds (Jacana jacana):

and the always present vultures:

It's magic when a red snake (Oxyrhopus melanogenys ?) swims in front of the boat:

and when we notice "something" among the branches and leaves in the highest, most distant tree:

Luckily I have a good teleobjective :

I can't say he/she seems to be very worried about our presence:

Here he/she sits and eats for a week or so, before he/she has to use a day or two to climb down to the ground to "do ba-ba".
Of course, with a max speed of 1,5 - 2 meters / hour, it needs some time to get down and up again.
This picture is taken earlier at the Rio Momon:

It's not without reason that the locals call it "Lazy monkey".

 

[aquaticclarity]

VERY NICE! Thanks for sharing.

Jeff

 

[chris1932]

Tom
The pictures are fantastic, when do we get to see what lay beneath the waters surface?
Its unfortunate that here in America we would have to call the sloth an "energy challenged" monkey.

 

[Tom C]

Lots of beautiful organisms above the waters surface too, Chris

Beneath the surface, these are always eager to get a piece of you:

Actually, I've almost finished an article with more than 200 photos from the 2008-trip: "Collecting in Pebas, Río Orosa and Río Shishita".
Should be ready in a couple of weeks or so, I'll let you know.......

 

[Ruki]

Actually, I've almost finished an article with more than 200 photos from the 2008-trip: "Collecting in Pebas, Río Orosa and Río Shishita".
Should be ready in a couple of weeks or so, I'll let you know.......

I can't wait for reading it! :biggrin:

 

[ste12000]

Tom, stunning informative pics once again..We are grateful that you decide to share them with us, I recently picked up from our mutual friend Mark Breeze some wild cacs labeled as 'Pacaya Samiria'.

http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=7992

Am i right in assuming the fish came from your collections?? if yes is there a certain collection locallity for this specific form or are all cacatuoides from the large area covered by the national park the same form? Any info will be gratefully received.

Merry Christmas.

 

[Tom C]

....... I recently picked up from our mutual friend Mark Breeze some wild cacs labeled as 'Pacaya Samiria'.

Am i right in assuming the fish came from your collections?? if yes is there a certain collection locallity for this specific form or are all cacatuoides from the large area covered by the national park the same form? Any info will be gratefully received.

Yes, you have fish from my collections.

In Pacaya Samiria I collect A. cacatuoides in two small brooks, not far from each other, and both entering the lake Yarina cocha.

I've brought fish back from these locations in 2006 and 2007.

In both brooks I also find A. cf. eunotus.

Both brooks have A. cacatuoides with and without red spots in the caudal fin: here you see some I collected in October this year:

and here is one without red spots in the caudal:

The first brook you can read about in the article "Collecting Corydoras CW-018" at apisto.sites.no. It's the same location.

Here are some shots from the other brook, amazingly with blackwater. But the water is not very acid:
pH: 6,52 Conduktivity: 79 microSiemens/cm Temperature: 28,4°C

I've collected A. cacatuoides in many other locations in Peru, but the fish from Yarina Cocha is the only ones I've seen where some of the females lack the lateral band in front of the flank spot when in breeding dress, like yours.

 

[ste12000]

Thanks Tom, just what i wanted to hear...Its nice to have pics from the collection site, makes the fish that little bit more special..They might "only" be Cacs but they are currently one of my favourites in the fishroom. They are on their second batch of fry which is just as well because the female is looking very old now and it will be interesting to see how much longer she holds out.
I am looking forward to seeing the variability of the fry and whether they produce offspring with and without red markings in the Caudal fin. The females markings were very interesting to me, its also the only female ive seen with only half a lateral band in broodcare.

I am also breeding some domestic Triple reds in my fishroom, they are very strong genetically so im happy with them as they are, someone recently commented that i should spawn a domestic with the wild to strengthen the domestic lines...I cannot bring myself to do it, the enthusiast in me sees it as damaging the wild form rather than strengthening the Domestic..anyone else share this view?

 

[dw1305]

Cacs and off - topic Sloth

Hi all,
Fantastic photo's, Sloth is interesting as it is in a Cecropia tree, therefore it is a three toed sloth, nearly always found in Cecropia trees, (although apparently not confined to them.

 

[dw1305]

Cacs and off - topic Sloth

Hi all,
Fantastic photo's.
I hope Ste12000 keeps the wild strain pure, and distributes them with their collection details etc. as the priority.

However if he has room I hope that he crosses with his "triple reds", I can't see that it does any harm if the two strains are kept separate, and whilst the offspring of the cross will probably be unexceptional who knows what colour combinations might arise?

The Sloth is interesting as it is in a Cecropia tree, therefore it is a three toed sloth, nearly always found in Cecropia trees, (although apparently not confined to them).

cheers Darrel (in Bath)

 

[ste12000]

Hi Darrel (in Bath)...

Dont worry mate they are being raised and distributed in the UK, i plan to keep these going for a while longer yet.. I currently have around 50 that are just starting to sex out, i also have another 60-70 that are about a month old and still living at home with the parents.. They will be sold to good homes with full collection details.

As for the double reds!! ive decided against mixing wild blood into them, they are a strong strain anyway and as i said before i see it more as ruining the wild rather than improving domestic..Ill raise both but they will be kept seperated throughout..

 

[georgedv]

That cac w/bluish fins looks incredible. Where can I get some?

thanks

g

 

[Microman]

Hi Steve,
Funnily enough when i was recently visiting Norway Tom and i were talking about your Pacaya Samira cac pictures. I mentioned to Tom that the pictures were of the fish he gave me and he was amazed just how different the fish looked in your pictures than in his aquaria.
Those cacatuoides from the Pacaya Samira reserve are simply wonderful.

What i do find interesting is the fact that during periods of high water the fish from the 2 brooks entering Yarina cocha where Tom collected could possibly mix yet the 2 forms still seem to exist as separate populations.
Is this the case Tom?

A friend from Denmark also recently collected(Oct 08) the form that shows the red spots in the caudal from within Pacaya Samira.

Those snaps are stunning Tom and i still cant get over the Sloth pics...
Mark...

 

[ste12000]

Im pretty sure that Tom owns a far better camera than my old thing??

I was initially a bit too keen to get pics up after i had them in my tank, the fish in my pics were fresh from the auction and very washed out, every set of pics i have of these show different colourations..The one below was taken last week..

We are starting to hyjack Toms thread with this cacatuoides morph so ill keep it short, im sure Tom has more stunning fish to show?? Ill come and visit you soon Mark, ive some cheques from the BCA to bring and some other stuff..Speak soon.

 

[RAF]

I never was much interested in cacatuoids, until I saw these pictures... but, off course, until now I only looked at mutant cacas!

 

[Mike Wise]

mutant cacas!

Great name! It would be a great name for a monster/horror movie!:biggrin:
(sorry if I offend anyone)

 

[Tom C]

........What i do find interesting is the fact that during periods of high water the fish from the 2 brooks entering Yarina cocha where Tom collected could possibly mix yet the 2 forms still seem to exist as separate populations. Is this the case Tom?

I consider A. cacatuoides from the the two brooks to be members of the same population, Mark.

The two brooks are not far from each other, and as you say, they both end up in the same lake, and they are both flooded during the rain season.

In 2006, in brook1 (with cw-018), this young male was the only one with some red in the caudal:

The rest looked like this:

When you see the picture above (Post #7), from the 2008 expedition, taken just after collecting from brook1, most of the males this time looked like the big one with red spots, but some didn't have any red in the caudal.

In brook2 (with blackwater), I found males with and without red in the caudal fin in 2007, and they looked exactly the same as the fish from brook1.

Sometimes they look quite pale, like this: