Persistence in the face of uncooperative conditions tends to pay off, as Ted Judy demonstrates in the fifth installment of his Colombian fish expedition video series
“The plan for this day is to drive south out of Villavicencio, into an area along the edge of the mountains where Apistogramma alacrina can be found. We got an early start on the day, but it is raining. Our distant goal is the village of Mesetas, where the road crosses a bridge over the Rio Guejar, a bigger river with some interesting fish. We are a bit concerned that the overnight rain may have blown out the river, but it is quite some ways south, and it is hard to predict whether the rain here affected the river there. The drive passes through more of the beautiful llanos grassland along the eastern edge of the Andes Mountains. We cross a few rivers that are flowing high and muddy…this is not a good sign…
After an overnight rain, Colombia’s rivers are swollen and muddy, hardly ideal for tropical freshwater snorkeling and underwater footage.
“After about a 2-hour drive with stops, we reach the Rio Guejar, and we find it high and muddy; not good conditions to see fish…On to plan B.
“We retrace our route back towards Villavicencio, stopping at some smaller streams that we scouted along the way, that looked better for seeing some fish. The first stop is at a small stream just outside the town of San Juan de Arama, a name I recognize from Apistogramma alacrina collection reports, and as it turns out, this is an awesome place to see fish…We’ve already seen, from the surface, some Apistogramma with fry, and some other species we haven’t seen yet, so I’m really excited about this spot!”
What seems like a rare sight in Judy’s underwater footage from Colombia: aquatic plants! Encounter this suspected Heteranthera zosterfolia in the footage below!
Darter Tetras, Characidium sp., await you in the video below.
SPOILER ALERT: You will get to see this amazing female Apistogramma alacrina guarding fry in her native biotope!
Take a firsthand look at the incredible diversity of the stream biotope near San Jaun de Arama, Colombia. Watch now!
Watch Other Episodes Here: Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep.10 | Ep.11 | more to come…
