Entebbe plant collecting

[Shane]

Got up early this morning and headed south to Entebbe to look for possible collecting sites. I checked out some beaches by the airport and Wildlife Education Centre but neither looked promising. Those that have spent time collecting know the 10 to 1 rule. It takes about ten hours of driving or boating around to find a spot you can collect for one hour.

On the way back I stopped a few kilometers north of Entebbe at an unnamed bay (near the village of Kitubulu). A couple of local fishermen were hauling in a large, circa 75 meter, beach seine. There were also lots of aquatic grasses so it looked like a good collecting place. The real surprise, once I was in the water, was that I was standing in a massive carpet of what appeared to be Vallisneria. The plants started about three feet off of shore and continued out until the water reached about two feet deep.

I used a push seine in the Vallisneria. Every run was very fruitful, or I should say would have been if I was after after Tilapia and Nile Perch fry! Hundreds of Tilapia fry and dozens of Nile Perch fry and not a single other fish. About this time the fishermen had mostly pulled in the beach seine. I watched eagerly for their mother load of various fishes to come in already thinking about what I might trade them for some nice Nkolongo (catfish) or Ngege (cichlid). The entire net came in empty. I do not speak Luganda, but the look that passed between the three of us was the universal fisherman's look of dismay. Both took a couple of pulls with my push net. They caught the same fry I did, but seemed happy to have had some revenge on the fish gods. One of the fishermen pointed at his wrist (there was of course no watch on it) then pointed at the sun and said with a heavy accent, "eight... tomorrow." I realized I was being invited to fish with them the next day. I pointed at my truck then north and said, "Kampala." They understood, I hope, and we all parted ways.

Determined that the day not be a total wash I filled a five gallon bucket about 1/2 full of Vallisneria. This took all of about two minutes given the plant's abundance. I then walked back to the truck where my wife and daughter had decided to wait for me as it had started raining (Note, the rain is why I have no pics of the place. Digital cameras and rain are a bad mix). My wife asked if I caught anything good. I said, "no" and then thought about it and said, "Actually, I have about $200 worth of plants in this bucket."

When I got home I set up a 20 long and planted it heavily with the Vallisneria to recreate the biotope. After stuffing the 20 long with plants I realized I barely put a dent in what I had collected. Looks like I'll have a lot of Vallisneria in my fishroom. I'll take a photo of the tank as soon as it clears up. Maybe someone can help me identify the plant as well.

-Shane

[bronzefry]

How big are the Nile perch fry? They're so huge as adults.
Amanda

[andywoolloo]

that must look beautiful in the tank.

[Shane]

How big are the Nile perch fry? They're so huge as adults.

They ranged from about 1-2 inches SL. All the Tilapia fry were 1" SL or smaller. Yes, I had a fleeting thought to bring one of the Nile Perch fry home and watch it grow a bit. Then I thought better.
-Shane

[bronzefry]

You're ceeeement pond would need to get a wee bit bigger, Jethro.
Amanda

[Shane]

Portrait of the fishroom as a work in progress.
The tank is settling in. Wish I had some Otos to clean the plants.

[bronzefry]

Those are nice plants. Any local snails or shrimp? If not, sometimes I've had luck with an overload of plants.
Amanda