Is L134 included in Mergus Catfish Atlas 1?

[TOO]

Hi all,

I am considering buying a good book on catfish. To begin with I am especially interested in some in-depth info on L134, especially biotope information. It seems the Mergus Atlas 1 and 2 are the most comprehensive sources, but I am curious as to which one of the two volumes that cover L134 in most detail. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated...

Thomas

[MatsP]

I don't know if it's covered by vol 2 (I think it is), but it is absolutely not in Vol 1.

--
Mats

[fischkringli]

Vol. 1 is about Hypoptopomatinae, Loricariidae, Cetopsidae, Nematogenyidae and Trichomycteridae.
Its in Vol. 2 page 649 in the german on, but it should be the same ithe english one.

[TOO]

Thank you both.

Has vol. 2 been translated to English yet?

Just out of curiosity: How is the habitat of L134 described? I imagine drift wood rather than rock? And what about current? There seems to differing opinions on this species' preference for circulation.

Thanks in advance...

Thomas

[MatsP]

No English version yet. Supposed to be out this year, but when is one of those "good question".

--
Mats

[fischkringli]

Here is a picture of the page. You can translate it. If you couldnt read it, I will write the text in my next post.

[TOO]

Thank you so much...I will have to dust of my German...I think I can get the main points, though Very helpful!

Thomas

[fischkringli]

Lucky me. I couldnt live without this atlas. You will wonder, how often it helps you.

[DutchFry]

as for biotope information, the live in quite deep, very rocky rapids where the temperature is quite high. so i would say more rocks than driftwood.

i think they like heavy water circulation, but a friend of mine bred this species in a tank where there was almost no circulation at all.

[TOO]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the input about biotopes. What is the source of this information? I am very curious to learn some more about their natural habitat. I - for some reason - had the impression that their biotope is predominantly driftwood snags. As far as I can tell (my German is not too good) the Mergus Atlas does not say much specifically about these things.

Thomas

[Rabbit]

L134 has a tendency towards protein ridden foods such as the animal life found in biofilm found on rocks.

[TOO]

Would anyone have further input on this?

I am bit confused, because on a Danish site people seem to bet on wood as the dominant feature of their habitats, whereas here people suggest stone.

I am aware that this probably does not matter a great deal to the fish as long as they have soft, warm water and lots of caves, but as a confessed biotope nerd I just need to know

Thomas

[MatsP]

I'd say this: Give the fish a choice of wood and stone. See what it likes, and then do what you think the fish will appreciate.

The Cat-eLog here says that the furniture should be "Wood and stone", so I think there isn't a clear answer to your question.

I should also point out that other Peckoltia species seem to be happy around wood. But that's not to say that they don't like stone as well.

It is often hard to find accurate information on the habitat of any fish - even if you know which 1km stretch of river the fish comes from, it's most likely that it's not going to be a stretch with a single feature all the way through. There will be wood tangles, rocks, sand reefs, plants growing in stiller pools, etc, etc. Which of these areas does the fish come from? Does it live in only ONE of the areas, or several of them?

Scientists do not necessarily help that much, since they are often only catching fish in ONE place.

--
Mats

[racoll]

The description of this species is due soon, and is likely to have comments on ecology and habitat.

I seem to remember Neil (sojapat) saying somewhere that he collected them in a slow moving rocky area of the Tapajos. Do bear in mind though that what is slow moving in the dry season may be a raging torrent another time of year.

[TOO]

Racoll, thanks for pointing me to comments by Sojapat

I found theme here: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =a&start=0

As you say he mentions stone as the predominant feature. Very interesting! I also wrote him a PM to see if he might so kind as to share the habitat pics he mentions in that thread.

Thomas

[sojapat]

There are some pictures on here but you will have to join the site forum ( Sorry Joolz no offence ment)
http://www.armbell.com/pieraquatics/vie ... eraquatics
I was with one of the writers of the Mergus atlas on this trip .
It is boulders and boulders where they live and in run off of the main river ,
I think it could get rough but they are not as rough as the main river.
Please leave the pictures where they are .
The water was only around 3 feet at the time we were there.
Pimental is the main collecting place .
It is hot around 28-29c and a ph of 7 , I cannot remember the microseimens .
hope this helps .

[TOO]

Sojapat, thanks a lot for this! Greatly appreciated!

I looked at the pictures and the one where you mention L134 were caught looks rather "woody" to me, lots of plants and trees in or close to the water.

But as I understand you the substrate was still mainly rocks?

With the closeness of trees I imagine their habitat could well be a mix of wood and stone.

Best,

Thomas