I have some really bad news for everyone who's interested in fish from Xingu, Madeira, Tocantins... well, pretty much the entire interior amazon: the brazilian presidents pharaonic plans to dam & divert these rivers, the most species rich in the world, have been approved, and construction already started in the Xingu.
It is unknown at this time how many species of fish, cichlids and other, will be extinguished by these projects, because, well, the developers and the government have studiously avoided to investigate the matter, instead electing to focus on matters such as how the dams will impact Global Warming!
Catfish and characins are likely to be harder hit than cichlids, with well-known species such as Hypancistrus zebra and Baryancistrus sp. "Gold Nugget" among the likely casualties,
but a number of dwarf cichlids are also facing extinction, e.g. Teleocichla gephyrogramma.
Due to the large number of known-but-undescribed species it is however not only unclear which species will be extinguished, but even what species are at all present.
Considering the enormity of this project to "develop" the amazon (the ultimate goal is to leverage these dams as infrastructure to turn 1/3rd of the amazon forest into soy bean plantations) it is amazing that it has apparently completely passed under the radar of every major biodiversity watchdog in the world.
Basically, for anyone interested in south-american fish, these dams are really, really, bad. I personally think that this will be the biggest single environmental disaster, measured in lost species, in recorded history.
Here's a good review article with more info on the subject, with lots of links:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=360
It is unknown at this time how many species of fish, cichlids and other, will be extinguished by these projects, because, well, the developers and the government have studiously avoided to investigate the matter, instead electing to focus on matters such as how the dams will impact Global Warming!
Catfish and characins are likely to be harder hit than cichlids, with well-known species such as Hypancistrus zebra and Baryancistrus sp. "Gold Nugget" among the likely casualties,
but a number of dwarf cichlids are also facing extinction, e.g. Teleocichla gephyrogramma.
Due to the large number of known-but-undescribed species it is however not only unclear which species will be extinguished, but even what species are at all present.
Considering the enormity of this project to "develop" the amazon (the ultimate goal is to leverage these dams as infrastructure to turn 1/3rd of the amazon forest into soy bean plantations) it is amazing that it has apparently completely passed under the radar of every major biodiversity watchdog in the world.
Basically, for anyone interested in south-american fish, these dams are really, really, bad. I personally think that this will be the biggest single environmental disaster, measured in lost species, in recorded history.
Here's a good review article with more info on the subject, with lots of links:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/shanesworld.php?article_id=360