Connecting Fish, Rivers, and People

Although the majority of fluvial freshwater fishes are migratory to some extent the spatial and temporal extent of these movements varies considerably depending on species. Continue reading »

Sahyadria denisonii is among the world’s most popular aquarium fishes. © Hristo Hristov

The iconic red-line torpedo barb and a related species are moved from the paraphyletic grouping Puntius to new genus Sahyadria in today’s issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa. Continue reading »

Adult male individual of O. wolasi. © Hans-Georg Evers

The previously unidentified ricefish known to aquarists as Oryzias sp. ‘Kendari’, O. sp. ‘neon’ or O. sp. ‘Sulawesi’ is given an official scientific name in the latest issue of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Continue reading »

Preserved specimens of H. kecil © Tan & Lim, 2013

Three new halfbeak species of the genus Hemirhamphodon have been described in ‘The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology’. Continue reading »

S. maculidorsalis is easily-recognised by presence of small black spots on the dorsal surface of the head and trunk in both males and females. © Odyssey

Freshwater gobies of the genus Stiphodon have become increasingly popular aquarium inhabitants in recent years, but considerable confusion has surrounded the identity of some commonly-traded species due to a number of factors. Continue reading »

I’ve just returned (more’s the pity) from a month pottering around Malaysia in search of freshwater fishes and other interesting stuff, and will be posting a series of blogs about the trip since there’s far too much material to cram into a single piece.

There are around 6000 hi-res photos plus interviews and videos to check and process so for the time being here are a few images off the phone-cam, some of which were taken by my wife. First report to follow in a day or two and will feature a couple of very special fishes.

Hope these whet the appetite ’til then…

…

Matt

Aquaculture Technologies Pte Ltd., Singapore is one of Southeast Asia’s most important exporters of wild-collected fish. We were lucky enough to be granted an exclusive in-depth interview with owner Patrick Yap which will be published soon.

© Matt Ford

Mouth of the blackwater Sungai (river) Ru Rebah as it enters the South China Sea, Johor state, Peninsular Malaysia.

© Aiste Ford

Kayaking in the mangrove forest, Tioman Island. Feet not mine…

© Aiste Ford

Dodgy bridge on the Sungai Mentawak, Tioman Island. Backside mine.

© Aiste Ford

Checking the push net.

© Matt Ford

‘Puntius‘ johorensis

© Matt Ford

Hill stream near Sekayu, Terengganu where we collected around 20 species.

© Aiste Ford

Homaloptera parclitella

© Matt Ford

Sungai Berang, Terengganu

© Matt Ford

Doryichthys sp. male carrying eggs

© Matt Ford

Hi folks, just to let you know that site updates will be much-reduced for the next month or so because of a four-week fishing trip to Southeast Asia, most of which will be spent in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo with a one day jaunt to Bintan Island, Indonesia!

Hoping to find anabantoids, barbs, rasboras, catfishes, loaches, gobies and many others as well as soaking up some culture and spending some rest time on the beach. It’s a hard life…

Thanks as ever for the ongoing support and see you all soon!!!

© Panta Rhei

The German publishing firm ‘Panta Rhei’ is about to print an updated second edition of the popular book ‘Loricariids of the Middle Xingu River’ by Mauricio Camargo, Heriberto Gimênes Junior, and Lúcia Helena Rapp Py-Daniel. Continue reading »

Schistura puncticeps, ZRC 53783, paratype, 55.2 mm SL; Myanmar: Shan State: mouth of Nam Paw, shortly after capture. © Bohlen and Šlechtová

A number of new loaches are covered in the latest volume of the journal ‘Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters‘, and among them are three species from Myanmar described by Jörg Bohlen and Vendula Šlechtová.

The first, Schistura puncticeps, is currently known only from its type locality, the mouth of Nam Paw stream at its confluence with the Myitnge River, itself a tributary of the Irrawaddy (aka Ayeyarwady) River in Shan state, northeastern Myanmar.

It can be told apart from other Schistura species by the following combination of characters:  dorsal and lateral surfaces of the head covered by dark brown dots; 5-8 large brown blotches along the lateral midline of the body; a large head (head length 20.7-24.9 % SL); a short caudal peduncle (caudal peduncle length 12.2-13.4 % SL); a large eye (4.8-6.6 % SL); no discernable sexual dimorphism.

The specific name is derived from the Latin punctum, meaning ‘dot’, and ceps, a derivation of caput meaning ‘head’, in allusion to the prominently spotted head.

For further information refer to the full, open access paper: Bohlen, J. and Vendula Šlechtová. 2013. Schistura puncticeps, a new species of loach from Myanmar (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 24(1): 85-92

The other two appear to be miniature species and closely-related to one another.

Schistura rubrimaculata; ZRC 53774, paratype, 26.1 mm SL; Myanmar: Magway division: stream Man Chaung; shortly after capture. Right side, reversed. © Bohlen and Šlechtová

S. rubrimaculata is named in reference to the red spot present on either side of the caudal peduncle in live specimens, and can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: small size (largest known specimen 27.7 mm SL); slender body shape (maximum body depth 103-123 % of body depth at nape); ventral half of body and head white (with silver sheen in life); colour pattern on body composed of a prominent black midlateral stripe and up to six small dorsal saddles; all fins hyaline; dark blotch on base of central unbranched caudal-fin rays, with a median incision at its posterior margin; and a distinct red dot on the side of the caudal peduncle in life, fading when preserved.

It’s been collected from the Man Chaung and Shwe Chaung river systems, both of which are Irrawaddy tributaries draining the eastern slope of the Rakhine Yoma mountains.

Schistura pawensis; ZRC 53776, holotype, 31.3 mm SL; Myanmar: Shan State: Hsipaw; shortly after capture. Right side, reversed. © Bohlen and Šlechtová

Schistura pawensis was discovered at the same locality as S. puncticeps and is named in reference to the Nam Paw stream.

Its distinguishing characters are as follows:  body small (largest known specimen 31.3 mm SL); slender body shape (head depth at nape 1.1-1.2 times in body depth); all specimens with a prominent black midlateral stripe; entire ventral side silvery-white; 6 ½ or 7½ branched dorsal-fin rays; 7-8 + 8 branched caudal-fin rays; anus positioned halfway between pelvic-fin origin and anal-fin origin.

For further information see the full, open access paper: Bohlen, J. and Vendula Šlechtová. 2013. Two new species of Schistura from Myanmar (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).  Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 24(1): 21-30.

All three species were collected in shallow, clear, flowing water over beds of gravel and do not appear to have entered the ornamental trade to date.

Thanks to Jörg Bohlen.

‘Oiran’ © caramacci_

The 2013 ‘Art Aquarium’ exhibition opened on 12th July in Tokyo and features a series of aquaria designed by contemporary artist Hidetomo Kimura.

The theme of this year’s installations is ‘Cool Goldfish of Edo’ in reference to the period of time when keeping goldfish first became popular in Japan and includes over 5000 fish of various ornamental strains including parrot cichlids and several types of goldfish.

The highly-modified aquaria also feature video and light displays, with the oversized goldfish bowl ‘Oiran’, containing 1000 goldfish, the star attraction.

Others include an  8-meter long ‘Four Seasons Aquarium’, kaleidoscope-themed ‘Kaleidorium’ and screen (byoubu) ‘Byoburium’.

The exhibition is at Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall and runs until 24th September.

The displays certainly make an immediate visual impression but what do you think about the concept in general? Should these be considered as works of art, expensive furniture, or something else?

‘Kaleidorium’ © Art Aquarium

© Art Aquarium

Part of the exhibition with ‘Oiuran’ to the left © Art Aquarium

‘Byoburium’ © Art Aquarium

‘Andonrium’ © Art Aquarium

‘Four Seasons’ © Art Aquarium

© Art Aquarium