Filming and Collect Rio Cabo Bre

[duanes]

Made a trip to east/central Panama today to the river Cabo Bre, the current was quite strong. While I filmed, my Panamanian guide Daniel did cast netting, for the 1st 2 hours, only 1 Pleco was caught, but in the last 10 minutes in a trench with a very strong current, about a dozen Tetras were netted.
The pH of the river tested @ 8, and nitrates were undetectable. All the tetras, and the Pleco, made the trip alive to 180 gal my tank.

 

[Trouser Cough]

What kind of tetras we talking?

...and it seems so odd to me that you've been doing this for a good while and know the tricks yet your haul always seems small. It makes me wonder what the catch and ship guys do to improve their take as this seems far too slow to actually make the process pay dividends.

 

[duanes]

I'm not exactly sure what species of Tetras I have yet, I will hopefully get a better idea tomorrow, when I can get some stills , and get a closer look at individual traits.

For example,
one trait differentiation between Astyanax, and Bryconamericus, is that the lower lobe of the caudal fin is slightly longer.
And difference between Roeboides, is the size of a mid level blotch.

Most Tetras netted today, have Astyanax shape, but newly added to a tank, their nervousness makes fine details (so far) blurred.

The Central American rivers I have collected, have quite different and smaller size fish populations than rivers in say, Amazonia in South America where greater populations are the norm.
In this river today, no cichlids were observed at all, only Tetras, and tiny gobies so small that they slipped thru the mesh of the net, and the 1 and only Pleco.

I will also be able to analyze the video footage tomorrow.

 

[jjohnwm]

Don't the commercial fish collectors use teams of several men operating seine nets? Seems that would be the most efficient and productive method.

A single guy flinging a cast net can't begin to cover the same area of water that can be encircled with a 50 or 60 foot seine, and if the seine is handled expertly it will catch just about 100% of the fish in the circle.

Not as much fun, though...

 

[duanes]

One other consideration I wasn't thinking about a few moments ago.
I have a preference for keeping rheophillic species, and those are the types I've searching out.
They are usually not found in as dense populations, as species from more slack waters.

And I agree with the above about large seines with multiple people working to catch lots of fish, catching large groups is not my intention, I only try to collect enough select species for my personal tanks.

 

[cockroach]

One other consideration I wasn't thinking about a few moments ago.
I have a preference for keeping rheophillic species, and those are the types I've searching out.
They are usually not found in as dense populations, as species from more slack waters.

And I agree with the above about large seines with multiple people working to catch lots of fish, catching large groups is not my intention, I only try to collect enough select species for my personal tanks.

What is about rheophillic species that attracts you?
Besides my guppy breeding, almost my whole fish room is rheo species.

 

[duanes]

Its not just the fish themselves, but the entire rheophillic biotope concept that peaks that interest.
The parameters of my tap water have always favored Central American species, so within those boundaries, I find rheophillic environments, and the fish that live within them challenging. The need to provide highly oxygenated , low nitrate waters, and enough current to keep them from getting fat and sluggish, and provide stimuli for breeding all that works in tandem to peak the interest.
Genera like Tomocichla, Rheoheros, and Chuco, have fit that bill for me in the past.

And these days Darienheros, and other species from the Mamoni , (and other rivers cascading down from from the Cordilllera de San Blas mountains), with their strong currents are providing the same fodder for my obsession.

 

[duanes]

Some of the tetras, caught yesterday.
I believe there are probably 3 or 4 different species, Astyanax, Brycon, and Roeboides.

Although the one dead center look very much like Astyanax, the longer lower lobe on the caudal, might suggest another genus.

The more elongate tetra in the center above, and below, may be Brycon.

 

[duanes]

Couple closeups.
1st The Roeboides tetra

And a snippet from te taxonomic key I use to "try" and determine species.


And below what may be an Astyanax

And a snippet from the Astyanax taxonomic key (clave)

 

[duanes]

Here are a couple short videos of netting Tetras from that day, and testing the waters for pH and nitrate.
The testing video is a bit cockeyed, in the parlance of our time.
Sardinas Cabo Bre
Basic Water Testing Cabo Bre river
The comparator below