Discussion on Loricharid invasions in Central American cichlid habitats

[Ola Svensson]

Hi all

Krista Capps has written an article published in Ciklidbladet 1/2011 about the effects of exotic loricariid (L-malar, sugmalar, pleccos or harneskmalar in Swedish) catfish in the native cichlid fauna. If you have any questions about the article she will answer them here! I'm sure that she'll also answer general questions about the habitats she work in as well.

Cheers,

Ola

[kristacapps]

Hello all,

I would be happy to answer any questions about the article. Please send questions to:

plecoinvasion.org@gmail.com

I apologize that I can only answer questions in English or Spanish!

[Ola Svensson]

Hello all,

I would be happy to answer any questions about the article. Please send questions to:

plecoinvasion.org@gmail.com

I apologize that I can only answer questions in English or Spanish!

Is it OK to ask questions directly in the forum as well?

To start with, I have a more general question. On one of the pictures (page 36) there are a huge amount of catfish. Are they this abundant all over the place?

Have you got the magazine yet by the way?

[kristacapps]

Is it OK to ask questions directly in the forum as well?

To start with, I have a more general question. On one of the pictures (page 36) there are a huge amount of catfish. Are they this abundant all over the place?

Have you got the magazine yet by the way?

They are very abundant throughout this river and seem to be attaining REALLY large densities in many invaded sites--Mexico, The Philippines, Thailand. At night, they spread out and graze throughout the river (between 5-9 fish per meter squared).

I have not received the magazine yet.

[Ola Svensson]

Do you know how they were introduced and how much they are spreading from the source of introduction? Do they migrate a lot e.g. during reproduction?

(The magazine should be on its way )

[Ola Svensson]

I visited the page www.plecoinvasion.org. There's interesting information there indeed.

[kristacapps]

Do you know how they were introduced and how much they are spreading from the source of introduction? Do they migrate a lot e.g. during reproduction?

(The magazine should be on its way )

We are not sure how they were introduced, but I am fairly certain it had to do with two primary things: 1) flooding of aquaculutral ponds on the banks of the Usumacinta River and 2) the intentional release of pets after they get too large for an aquarium. They have spread from the mouth of the Usumacinta on the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Palenque, Mexico. They do seem to be migrating a lot each year; however, their dispersal behavior is unknown.

[Ola Svensson]

This is a rather unrelated question. Do you know which species of Astyanax it is that you are referring to? (We have discussed which tetras that we would like in our cichlid tanks. When I was in Mexico there were plenty of Astyanax everywhere. I thought they all were A. mexicana but that may be wrong. It was the only tetra a saw except in Agua Azul I saw a tiny tetra with a faint stripe along the body (I think it was a tetra). When I was in Palenque there were plenty of Priapella compressa and Heterandria bimaculata (if I identified them correctly).

[Mikael W]

Hi there,

Good to see some activity in our new English/German department. These questions seem interesting, as many cichlidists also are interested in catfishes. (Myself, I'm not, but I know very many are.) A perfect way to increase our knowledge outside the cichlid box.