Parananochromis brevirostris?

[Ekona]

Does anyone know if P. brevirostris has ever been imported the the U.S. or if it shows up on exporter lists?
Just saw a photo of a pair from Mimbon Aquarium and this would appear to be one very beautiful species. It would be great to work with this species.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[tjudy]

This species is rarely exported, because the its country of origin (Gabon) does not have an established commercial aquarium-fish export industry. Every now and then some make it out through other countries, or at least fish that are listed as being P. brevirostris are sometimes seen on lists. But as far as I know almost all are brought out by scientific or hobbyist collectors.

 

[Ekona]

Thanks Ted. That is what I thought. I have never seen it or heard of anyone who had or has it in the U.S. and, yes, I know that exports from Gabon are very rare.

From what I have read, however, the species also ranges into southwestern Cameroon, where collections are periodically made, and I was wondering/hoping someone knew of any brevirostris collections made there.

The photo of what is identified as P. brevirostris, which I was referring to, can be seen at http://www.mimbon.de/archives/3. Mimbon Aquarium news article from Sept. of '08.

Dave

 

[freshwaterfishfan]

Rare Westies

Ted et. al.,

This thread got me thinking about all the West African Cichlids we'd like to see availible and I was wondering if the reason we don't see many of them is because they are so darn nasty to each other. I say this because over the last year two species which have been on my want list, Parananchromis longistratus and Steatocranus irvinei have been imported and I jumped at the chance to get them and now have fish that are so aggressive to each other (and in the S. irvinei case, every other fish in the tank) that I'm stuck with one fish per tank. And I've tried them in big tanks, 55G + and dithers and everything I can think of. I have been shocked by the aggressiveness of the S. irvinei. They make Hemichromis fasciatus look like lovebirds.
Steve

 

[tjudy]

There are definitely a few westies that importers loathe to deal with. S. irvinei, Teleo. brichardi and H. frempongi are a few of the more commonly available.

I think the biggest reason is that most of the rare species are simply inaccessible to commercial collectors. For example... P. brevirostris. Based upon where the fish are reputed to be located in Cameroon, a team of collectors would have to travel by car 80-100 km from the nearest larger town (Kribi) which is a 4-5 hour drive. It is doubtful that they would be able to collect enough in one day to fill a box, so they would either have to drive back and return the next day, or stay in the jungle... neither is someting they would want to do. Getting the fish out is no easy task, especially if they have to keep them alive in the field over night. This may be hard to believe, but even a standard fish box styro does not exist in Cameroon. A coleman cooler, because it is imported, costs $100 (USD).

The collectors are poor and do not own cars. They take buses out into the villages where they walk out to collect fish. Renting a car costs $60-$70 per day, plus mileage and gas. A lot more than what they would get for the fish. Many of the fish that are collected in the villages are literally handed to a cab or bus driver in a bag to be delivered to a city where they are handed off to another delivery service to get to Douala (in the case of P. brevirostris the city of Douala is about 200 km away). Cyrille Dening, and exporter, says that he has gotten bags of dead fish from bus drivers who received the fish 10 days before.

The reality is that 99% of the fish that we see in the hobby are collected within a one hour bus ride of a major city or town. This also means that there are a LOT of fish in Cameroon yet to be exported.

Here is what we CAN do. We can pay collectors to go get fish for us and an exporter to send them over. Once it is all said and done we would pay what amounts to a retail price for everything. I have been talking to Cyrille Dening about possibly funding collectors to go into that southern area with Parananochromis. Cyrille says he needs two helpers, a car and five days to do the job. Figure $300 for the vehicle expense. $150 for the helpers (labor is cheap), lodging and food for the collectors, the cost of the fish, cost of the boxes,shipping and the export/import fees. Five boxes would probably come out in the $2000 - $2500 range, and I would insist that the boxes be packed lightly to minimize losses (not to mention that the fish we want are rare and the collectors are not goin gto find 100's of them).

 

[peterK]

Wow, thanks for full reply Ted

 

[tjudy]

One of the pledges to myself when I was in Cameroon is that I would never complain about paying $40+ for a pair of wild cichlids ever again.

 

[Ekona]

Thanks, Ted, for the insights to what it takes to collect wild fish in Cameroon.
And you are right, that, considering all the expenses and effort to collect them, $40.00+ for a wild pair is very reasonable.

In researching Parananochromis, I have read some sources say the the genus tends to have a somewhat aggressive temperament, and others that they compare to Pelvicachromis in that regard; some say they are problematic to breed and others they are quite breedable. I've never kept any, so I have no experience to share. Perhaps it depends upon the species, and of course, the husbandry techniques of the keeper.

I think Jeff Michaels has F1 P. caudafasciatus available for sale. Jeff, could you share any experiences keeping and breeding them?

Thanks,
Dave