PlanetCatfish.com

Hi

next spring i want to travel to Brasil into the nord-east, next Town will be Fortaleza, to reach in a few minutes by car. I want to dive there, most times in sweetwater, not salty.
Does anyone knows lakes or slow rivers where diving is usual and maybe there are some catfishes, Apistogrammas or other sweetwaterfishes to see? The maximum reach from there is 300 km into the landzone. The state is Ceará where i search. thanks.

You will have to let us know how it was and what you found

have a good trip,Birger

you need to find a nice whitewater or clearwater habitat....I've been snorkelling in blackwaterrivers in the past, and they do live up to the name; it's like swimming in cola, except it's less sticky.

In other words; the visibility was about 6" wich doesn't help.
the presence of candiru, stingrays and lots of piranha's that all went about unseen around me added to the 'fun' so to speak! don't wee in the water.........and make sure you don't have cuts (like scratched mosquitobites!!) or scrapes before you dive or the piranha's might get feisty.

sidguppy wrote:you need to find a nice whitewater or clearwater habitat....I've been snorkelling in blackwaterrivers in the past, and they do live up to the name; it's like swimming in cola, except it's less sticky.

Hi

yes, thats my opinion. I've found one 1998 near Prainha, which is really clear and not like teawater.
That wil be my first target. I've found a dive base in this state and i am in contact with the owner. He talks about a few lakes where diving is possible. We'll see....

the presence of candiru, stingrays and lots of piranha's that all went about unseen around me added to the 'fun' so to speak! don't wee in the water.........and make sure you don't have cuts (like scratched mosquitobites!!) or scrapes before you dive or the piranha's might get feisty.

don't panic, there are no human-eating fish where i want to dive..... (I hope.... )

the candiru doesn't eat you.....

when it hits you, you'll need a sharp knife, though.

and you can kiss your sexlife goodbye after that (ouch!)


to make sure that tragedy doesn't happen; wee against a tree or so BEFORE every dive (you wouldn't believe what 28'C water does to your bladder.....it makes you want to 'relax' the whole time!), and wear tightfitting swimmingtrunks or a wetsuit with no openings between the skin and the texture.

I don't have to be more graphic, do I?

Stingrays shouldn't be underestimated either. they're everywhere, and those stings are poisonous and barbed. shuffle your feet when entering a sandy pond or stream (this scares them off) and don't walk too fast.....when the next hospital is 1200 km away or a weeks' travel; tripping over one is definitely not good.
wearing fins or plastic sandals diminishes the risk somewhat, but some Potamotrygon are fairly large and the stinger can still hit you in the ankle where all those big veins are nicely close to the skin.
just be careful!
South America's rainforest is NO swimming pool or diving reef.

Hi sidguppy

thx for the hints. Seems to be usefull wearing kevlar clothing under water.

I don't have to be more graphic, do I?

No. thats not nessecary.

the candiru doesn't eat you.....
when it hits you, you'll need a sharp knife, though.
and you can kiss your sexlife goodbye after that (ouch!)
to make sure that tragedy doesn't happen; wee against a tree or so BEFORE every dive (you wouldn't believe what 28'C water does to your bladder.....it makes you want to 'relax' the whole time!), and wear tightfitting swimmingtrunks or a wetsuit with no openings between the skin and the texture

Sidguppy,
Where did you get this crap! There has never been a substantiated case of a trichomycterid entering a human body. I have spent the last four years collecting throughout South America and (Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela) and have NEVER met any local that had even heard of this happening. I have also spent 1,000s of hours in the Amazon, Orinoco, Napo, Meta, and many others. I have gone wee in them all while collecting and have yet to see a swarm of candiru come after me. Too bad it is not true or we could just pee in the water and then scoop up catfishes by the thousand.

.........and make sure you don't have cuts (like scratched mosquitobites!!) or scrapes before you dive or the piranha's might get feisty.

This is also crap. I have only seen two people bitten by piraña and both were careless while removing a fishing hook from the animal's mouth. I have yet to ever meet a single person with a bite on their body. Bad documentries propagate this myth. I saw one yesterday where a chiguire (capybara) was eaten by piraña. It took me a minute, but I realized they had thrown a dead chiguire in an aquarium stuffed with piraña and filmed it as a "natural" occurance by splicing in shots of a chiguire in the llanos walking into a charco (pool). Reminds me of the German documentary team I was with in the Orinoco that had a Warao Indian rub sticks together to make a fire. Of course he could not make a fire, so they stopped filming while I lit the fire with my lighter. They then started rolling the film again to show how these people lived as one with nature and could create fire with nothing more than sticks.
-Shane

Your posts are so interesting, that i had to google it...
i know that this is off topic but how do you comment this article??
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/piranha038/candiru.html

kind regards

Hi

i have heard about a few parasits and nematodes living in the sand, trying to catch my feet. First time i was there was 1978. In the years after i often use my holidays to stay their and enjoy the people, the weather an the nature, especially the animals. Piranhas are fried very "jummy" we catch them in the orinocco 1984. I've took two of them i a dried version at home. The teeth are very impressive and sharp.
I am shure, that a professional Divemaster in Brasil will know the risks that we will have there. Without any native divers i don't want to dive on my own risk. That will be very harmfull for any diver arround the world. The first thing you learn is safety. And any diver shouldn't forget this.
So i only want to dive, where a prof. diver tell me thats its safe. Otherwise i dont go underwater.
Diving is never without risks.
My opinion is to dive in flat waters. I'm looking for dwarfs, not for big fishes. Maybe i need no pressed air. A snorkel maybe all what i need. I will see. But my question was about diving places and not the big worms that will eat my feet.
The thread is going interesting ways.




(hope someone will understand what i write......my english is not the best.... and a little bit rusty.)

There has never been a substantiated case of a trichomycterid entering a human body

Hi!

I dont know how much truth there is in BBC documentaries but theres a series about parasites that features a man who had a candiru up his "you know what". They interviewed the doctor who extracted it and showed pictures of the fish in the "you know what" if my memory doesnt fool me. It looked quite real to my eyes.

Sid,

I can't vouch for the veracity of your posts, but they sure are entertaining! And since I don't believe most of what I read on the internet in any case, to be entertained is more than enough! Keep up the good work. But please be a little more graphic next time.

Dinyar

google brought up this...maybe somebody who speaks portugese can call the doctor...
http://www.internext.com.br/urologia/Casosclinicos.htm

Shane wrote

Sidguppy,
Where did you get this crap!

WHAT did I ever do to insult you??????

do you mind to keep it civil or what?

the fact that YOU haven't heard about this -although the links given by both Jeff B and Caol_ila give solid proof of the opposite, doesn't mean that I'm talking out of my rear end.
btw the dangers of the candiru are known for decades or longer by white man and even longer by indegenous people. I've heard about it everywhere I went in Latin America, although I visited it only once.

This is also crap

about the Piranha and the mosquito-bites; it doesn't hurt to be precautious, does it?
it's never smart to go diving or snorkeling with open wounds or scratches anywhere, especially when there's dangerous fish around! And even if the fish won't get you; getting a serious infection from bacteria in the water due to them getting into a scratched-up mosquitobite is no laughing matter and that I've seen happening.
not funny when the medication is not around and the next hospital is 6 days away.


You COULD have said it like "this is not true" or something, but no....



being civil doesn't cost a single dime!

Now, now Sid... I am more than happy to stand up for you... but please keep things in perspective and retain your sense of humor .

Dinyar

Sid,
My apologies if you took my comment personally, it was not written in that vein (no pun intended!). Clearly, nobody actually read the case that was quoted above. The now "famous" Dr. Samad claimed that the "victim" was standing on the bank urinating and the catfish swam out of the river, up the man's urine stream, and entered his penis. Now anyone that can tell a guppy from an oscar ought to seriously question that ever happening! Several experiments have also been conducted with trichomycterids and urine. As common sense would tell you, the fish fleed from the urine (probably to escape the high nitrate and sodium levels).
With regards to hearing about trichomycterids everywhere you went in South America, who told you this? Sounds like your Guide was trying to make your "rainforest excursion" fun and give you a story to go home with and share at the pub.
-Shane

The possibility of problem with fish never really occured to me when I thought about collecting trips... I would tend to worry more about poisonous snakes, or getting sick. Suppose things are much different when you're there though.

I would actually list the number one risk as drowning.
-Shane

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to the Orinoco river which has trichomycterid. I swam in the river a few times. I also did number 1 while swimming more than once. I guess I was just one of the lucky ones... but then again I don't have gills and believe all the stories I read on the net.

Brasil has cancelled. ...merde

Now i go to Thailand, on a island called Kho Lanta and will spend 6 Months their on a dive base for work. Maybe, after that i will buy the ticket to Recifé.