We acquired four specimens of Peckoltia sp. L135 in early 2009 not knowing it would take us more than two years to achieve breeding success. This species is now identified as Peckoltia braueri (Eigenmann, 1912), and often referred to as the Worm-line Peckoltia, for the fine vermiculations that decorate its head region. Its native distribution is in the Rio Negro tributaries of Rio Demini, Rio Branco and possibly others.
Aquarium Dietzenbach in Dietzenbach, Germany, has succeeded with the husbandry of two Synodontis species that had not been reported previously: S. pardalis and S. waterloti.
Inspiring look at a very appealing new type of planted aquarium, with emergent and shoreline plants creatively mounted to the back wall of the tank.
The African Freshwater, or Dwarf Red Snout, Pipefish is exotic and rare enough that even expert aquarists assume it is more at home on a coral reef than in a clear freshwater stream 100 miles from the ocean. Now this sometimes brilliantly pigmented little species is being bred in captivity and is starting to enter the aquarium trade.
The Dwarf Orange Crayfish, Cambarellus patzcuarensis “Orange,” is a petite and colorful crustacean that is not as well known to freshwater aquarists as it should be, but that it makes a sassy and active addition to a nano aquarium. While some crayfish and “mini lobsters” can be destructive, this species has proved safe with plants, fishes, and other invertebrates.
My objective was to discover why the export of the legendary Blue-Eyed Pleco from this region came to a standstill in the mid 1990s. What could have caused this sudden change?
The Aquatic Gardeners Association Aquascaping Contest is the world’s oldest contest of its kind. This was our 13th year, and I have been privileged to judge both this contest and the Aqua Design Amano IAPLC from the inception. Over the last 13 years we have seen a tremendous growth of interest in aquatic gardening both in the U.S. and worldwide. One of the nice things about our AGA contest is that anyone can go onto our website, www.aquatic-gardeners.org, and see every tank ever entered, including all the details on the tanks and the judges’ comments.
The scientists found that during the summer of 2005, more than 270,000 square miles (700,000 square kilometers, or 70 million hectares) of pristine, old-growth forest in southwestern Amazonia experienced an extensive, severe drought. This megadrought caused widespread changes to the forest canopy that were detectable by satellite. The changes suggest dieback of branches and tree falls, especially among the older, larger, more vulnerable canopy trees that blanket the forest.
Crizanto and his fishermen have found a number of particularly colorful armored catfish species, illustrated here, in the previously little-collected Rio Itacaiúnas in the lower Rio Araguaia.
The second issue of the New Year for AMAZONAS spans many interests, from rare plecos that cause catfish lovers’ hearts to race, to the many exotic and wonderful fishes of Myanmar (Burma), and world-best planted tank aquascapes in a gallery of awe-inspiring images from the Aquatic Gardeners Association Annual competition
