wild apisto doubt

[edwliang]

at the end of 2012, unbelievably large amount of apistos were inported into china and hongkong's oremental fish market. and now i have a doubt: how can we know if all of them are really wild-caught apistos. recently, i think many of you may notice, many nannacara adoketa have been imported. and we will never know if there are still many wild-caught apistos, we will never know where the source is. can anyone tell me if there is cage culture in south america? like the seafood we consume. below are some pics of my ap bitaneata tefe bauana and ap bitaneata maniti. i really dont know if they are real wild fish.

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, there is some captive (pond) breeding of species in South America. Most of it is very different from pond breeding in the US or Asia. In many places, the collectors will collect a batch of a desirable fish. They then put the fish in a similar area, in the wild, closer to their export stations. Then, when they need a certain species, they can quickly collect what they need without traveling long distances. Peruvian Discus are an example. There were no Discus in Peru until they were introduced from Brazil. A. allpahuayo, is from the middle/upper Río Nanay and were introduce to the type locality near Iquitos in the past 15 years. I know of a location where Nannostomus mortenthaleri can now be collected near Iquitos instead to traveling days up the Nanay. The fish are pond raised, but not really commerially. They are more like wild-caught fish: there is no selection for special traits.

 

[Kruz]

Good info on the Discus Mike.

 

[edwliang]

Yes, there is some captive (pond) breeding of species in South America. Most of it is very different from pond breeding in the US or Asia. In many places, the collectors will collect a batch of a desirable fish. They then put the fish in a similar area, in the wild, closer to their export stations. Then, when they need a certain species, they can quickly collect what they need without traveling long distances. Peruvian Discus are an example. There were no Discus in Peru until they were introduced from Brazil. A. allpahuayo, is from the middle/upper Río Nanay and were introduce to the type locality near Iquitos in the past 15 years. I know of a location where Nannostomus mortenthaleri can now be collected near Iquitos instead to traveling days up the Nanay. The fish are pond raised, but not really commerially. They are more like wild-caught fish: there is no selection for special traits.

thank you, mike, good info. what about apisto? are there pond raised, /captivity ? you know agassisi and bitaneata tefe are very popular in Asia. will there be as many wild tefe as we see in the market? and if we bought a pair of pond raised apisto, it would be a chance of inbreeding?

 

[Mike Wise]

I don't really know about apistos from the Rio Tefé. The river isn't really that hard to get to from Manaus by boat or air. Large numbers of Discus are regularly collected there, so it isn't hard to imagine that apistos are too. When A. sp. Tefé was originally exported in the 1990s it was often mixed in with A. agassizii from the lower Rio Tefé. This is why there were problems breeding the species at that time. Now the collectors should know where each species occurs and collect pure populations. Mixing problems can occur later at exporters, importers, wholesalers and retailers however.

 

[edwliang]

I don't really know about apistos from the Rio Tefé. The river isn't really that hard to get to from Manaus by boat or air. Large numbers of Discus are regularly collected there, so it isn't hard to imagine that apistos are too. When A. sp. Tefé was originally exported in the 1990s it was often mixed in with A. agassizii from the lower Rio Tefé. This is why there were problems breeding the species at that time. Now the collectors should know where each species occurs and collect pure populations. Mixing problems can occur later at exporters, importers, wholesalers and retailers however.

thank you very much.

 

[edwliang]

I don't really know about apistos from the Rio Tefé. The river isn't really that hard to get to from Manaus by boat or air. Large numbers of Discus are regularly collected there, so it isn't hard to imagine that apistos are too. When A. sp. Tefé was originally exported in the 1990s it was often mixed in with A. agassizii from the lower Rio Tefé. This is why there were problems breeding the species at that time. Now the collectors should know where each species occurs and collect pure populations. Mixing problems can occur later at exporters, importers, wholesalers and retailers however.

mike, do you have a map of rio bauana, i couldnt find it on goole map.

 

[Mike Wise]

Not everything is labeled on Google Maps. The Rio Bauana is easy to find. Look at a picture of Lago Tefé. Follow the western shoreline until it shows a large river entering it (about 2/3 of the way up the lake from its outlet). It shows as a notch on the shoreline. This is the Rio Bauana. Any decent atlas or map of Brazil should show it.

 

[edwliang]

Not everything is labeled on Google Maps. The Rio Bauana is easy to find. Look at a picture of Lago Tefé. Follow the western shoreline until it shows a large river entering it (about 2/3 of the way up the lake from its outlet). It shows as a notch on the shoreline. This is the Rio Bauana. Any decent atlas or map of Brazil should show it.

pls see the attached pic. do you mean the one in red circle?

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, that is the mouth of the Rio Bauana.

 

[edwliang]

Yes, that is the mouth of the Rio Bauana.

thank you