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Beware The 'Punk' Fish & The Fruit-Eating Piranha

Yithian

Yithian

Parish Watch
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3192935.stm

New species uncovered in Venezuela

Scientists working in the jungles of Venezuela have discovered 10 new species of fish and a previously unknown species of shrimp.
Among the new discoveries, revealed by US-based Conservation International, was an armoured catfish whose spiky head earned him the nickname "punk" and a piranha that eats fruit as well as flesh.

The group are now calling on the Venezuelan Government to protect the Caura River Basin, where the species were found, designating the 4,500-hectare (11,115-acre) area a wildlife reserve.

"For its size, it's incredible what the area has. It's a hot spot that should be protected," said zoologist Antonio Machado, who helped direct the research.

Area under threat

The Caura River Basin, in the state of Bolivar, is an area of pristine tropical forest and waterways tucked away in the highlands, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south-east of the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

Conservationists are concerned that the area will fall prey to encroaching human settlements as well as the adverse effects of increased farming and fishing.

The region could also be threatened by future hydroelectricity plans, the group said.

"The Caura River Basin requires immediate and urgent protection as a wildlife reserve," said Mr Machado, who described the region as a biological "hotspot".

One of the most colourful discoveries was a green and red variety of the Bloodfin Tetra family - a type popular with aquarium owners - which has been given the Latin name Aphyocharax yekwanae in honour of the Ye'Kwana Indians who live in the basin.

"These indigenous people depend on the water," Mr Machado explained.

The omnivorous piranha, which supplements its diet with fruit from submerged trees, was called Serrasalmus.

While the tentacle armoured catfish has been formally dubbed Ancistrus, the team of international scientists that found it on their expedition in 2000 gave it the nickname "punk fish" because of its spiky head.
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Ancistrus catfish are well known within the tropical fish hobby. All of the species show the same 'tentacles' to some degree. They are a good fish to keep in your tropical tank, as they eat algae and don't grow anywhere near as big as the other favourite algae eater, the plecostomus. But then pleco's do look almost Jurassic in appearance and therefore win out for me if the tank is big enough. Nice to hear that another new species has been discovered though.

The fruit eating pirana sounds like a new species of Pacu. These are related to the pirana family but are exclusively vegetarian, eating fruit or nuts which they crack with their immensesly strong jaws. Interesting that this one eats fruit and meat though. Is it a halfway house between the pacu and the pirana? Pacu are not a good species to keep unless you have a lot of room as they grow bloody enormous.

Dunno if you've ever seen Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on the TV, he's a cook, but he once did a programme where a woman who had kept a pacu for a number of years decided to eat it as it had outgrown its tank.

I couldn't have done that! Be like eating a member of the family...well, not quite!
 
No pictures that I can find yet, I'm afraid, but here's an article that gives more details (in particular) about the environment these discoveries were made in:

Washington, DC - Conservation International (CI) announced today the discovery of a tiny fish with a blood red tail in Venezuela's Upper Caura River. Previously unknown to science, the bloodfin tetra (Aphyocharax yekwanae), is described in the March 2003 edition of the journal, Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters.

The two-inch-long tetra is only one of 10 new species of fish found during a single expedition by CI's Aquatic Rapid Assessment Program (AquaRAP) to the Caura River Basin in November 2000. The other species have yet to be described.

The RAP trip was organized by the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) at CI to assess the biological diversity of the area, one of the most pristine and biologically intact in Venezuela.

The RAP team of national and international scientists recorded 399 plant and 278 fish species in the Caura River, including 10 new fish and one new shrimp species.

Because the Caura River Basin is so rich in animal and plant species and it is facing increasing threats from expanding agriculture frontiers, plans for a hydroelectric dam and commercial logging, conservationists are urging the Venezuelan government to create a new protected area in this region. Since its inception 13 years ago, RAP findings have boosted efforts to create new parks and protected areas in some of the biologically richest and most threatened places in the world.

"For every scientific expedition to the Caura River, researchers have recorded hundreds of species never seen before in the area," said Leeanne Alonso, RAP Senior Director at CI. "We're just scratching the surface of what's out there and I'm sure the Caura holds many more remarkable plants and animals that are completely new to science."

The Caura River Basin is home to 30 percent of all Venezuela's recorded species and 28 percent of the country's freshwater fish species. Comprised of inland and flooded forests, the vegetation around the basin is 85 percent intact and pristine, largely due to the indigenous Ye'kwana people, who carefully manage the area.

The bloodfin tetra was named after the Ye'Kwana people in Bolivar State, Venezuela in honor of their dedication towards protecting and managing their environment.

"The Caura River's biological importance has been underscored by the new discoveries and the remarkable findings of the RAP expedition that clearly illustrate that the Caura is worthy of protection," said CI-Venezuela Director Franklin Rojas. "For thousands of years the Ye'kwana have recognized the beauty and biological importance of this area; their very way of life and social fabric revolves around protecting it."

The Caura River Basin sits atop the Guayana Shield, a single massive geological formation that runs beneath northeastern South America. Formed more than two billion years ago, the shield supports the single most intact tropical wilderness area in the world. The Caura River is one of the greatest tributaries of the Orinoco River.
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http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2003/082803.xml
 
The Johnny Rotten of the Loricariids.
 
Looks like a Common Plec (Hypostomus plecostomus) or 'sucker fish' the kind people have in their tanks at home to clean the algae off the glass

hypostomus_sp_L124.jpg
 
They're related but plecs don't have the barbels/tentacles around the mouth that Ancistrus have.

I loved my plecs! All this talk of fish is making me want to set up a tank again. My wife will not be pleased!
 
Cavynaut said:
Ancistrus catfish are well known within the tropical fish hobby. All of the species show the same 'tentacles' to some degree. They are a good fish to keep in your tropical tank, as they eat algae and don't grow anywhere near as big as the other favourite algae eater, the plecostomus. But then pleco's do look almost Jurassic in appearance and therefore win out for me if the tank is big enough. Nice to hear that another new species has been discovered though.

The fruit eating pirana sounds like a new species of Pacu. These are related to the pirana family but are exclusively vegetarian, eating fruit or nuts which they crack with their immensesly strong jaws. Interesting that this one eats fruit and meat though. Is it a halfway house between the pacu and the pirana? Pacu are not a good species to keep unless you have a lot of room as they grow bloody enormous.

Dunno if you've ever seen Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on the TV, he's a cook, but he once did a programme where a woman who had kept a pacu for a number of years decided to eat it as it had outgrown its tank.

I couldn't have done that! Be like eating a member of the family...well, not quite!
Click to expand...

And what odd palces the pacu turns up:

Strange fish at Morgan Lake a true story

By Darren Marcy
Feb 26, 2004, 12:38 am



MORGAN LAKE — Many local e-mail accounts have seen a forwarded message containing rumors of an Amazonian fish that was found at Morgan Lake at the Four Corners Power Plant.

The talk isn’t just a rumor. The fish photos are real and the story about the strange South American species being found in Morgan Lake are true.

The message, with photos of the fish, have been circulating for nearly two weeks.

The way the Internet is these days, it’s hard to believe anything that shows up in the In Box.

Most of the messages seemed to include a caveat, as the sender wasn’t sure if the photos and story were a hoax or not.

Nathan Tohtsoni, a spokesman for the power plant, confirmed the fish, believed to be a red pacu, was found in a canal leading from the lake to the plant Feb. 14.

Morgan Lake water is used to cool the coal-fired units.

The fish looked an awful lot like an oversized piranha, of which the pacu is closely related. In juvenile stages, it’s very difficult to differentiate between a red pacu and a red bellied piranha.

Both fish are native to the Amazon Basin.

The pacu was dead when it was retrieved by an auxiliary operator and is believed to have been in Morgan Lake for at least four years.

“Employees spotted one in 2000,” Tohtsoni said. “We can guess it’s been there at least four years. Those are the only ones that have been spotted. We’re assuming it’s the same fish. As far as we know we don’t have a population of them.”

The red pacu found at Morgan was about 20 inches long and about 10 inches deep, but the most interesting — almost frightening — part of the fish was inside its small mouth.

The red pacu carried an impressive set of teeth, but unlike the piranha, the pacu’s teeth look like molars.

The fish is a vegetarian, eating fruit, nuts and vegetation primarily. The fish is known to swim inland during floods to eat fruit that has fallen from trees.

South Americans are known to fish for the pacu by baiting hooks with fruit, and guide services offer the chance to catch red pacu along with Peacock bass and other species.

The pacu is a characin, which includes the piranha and tetras, another popular aquarium fish.

It’s possible the fish could have been dumped in Morgan by someone who found it outgrowing their home aquarium. Red pacu are popular fish but are too large for all but the largest fish tanks.

The red pacu is the smaller of two similar subspecies. The red pacu can grow to be 40 inches in length, while the black pacu can grow much bigger than that.

An explanation that is just as likely is that the fish accidentally was stocked in the water by the Navajo Nation Fish and Wildlife department.

The department stocks Morgan with bass, which come from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery in Texas where red pacu are known to live.

In fact, one angler currently holds the Lake Texhoma record for red pacu.

Morgan Lake is also home to another alien invader, the pleicostomus, which is another aquarium fish likely the result of a fish tank release.

Biologists at the power plant aren’t concerned about the lake, even if — on the off chance — there are more red pacu in the lake. Because the fish eats vegetation, there is no concern for the lake’s thriving bass fishery.

“We know this particular species of fish eats vegetation and insects,” Tohtsoni said. “We don’t believe it’s harming anything else. You can see, he did well for himself.”

But the discovery of the fish could actually be a feather in the lake’s cap.

Now, Morgan Lake can officially lay claim to have been the home of the New Mexico state record red pacu.
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http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_8958.shtml
 
And here's a 'regular' armoured catfish:

379542c185b919d1e6c39735d02ac1ad--florida-springs-life-aquatic.jpg


Caught in Florida.

As the caption says, "They look like they come straight out of the Devonian Period".
 
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