Fish Collecting in Panama and Costa Rica

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Bob Sprague

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 11, 2011
5
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Germany
I just came across this site..Cool!
I was born and grew up in Panama. One of my favorite interests while there was collecting river fish and lake fish in the Canal Zone and adjacent areas. These ranged from simple head and taillight tetras to blue acaras, catfish, vicious mancholos, gobies, other types of cichlids, large humpbacked tetras, garfish and I even caught some peacock cichlid offspring (not bass...which I have eaten) of some fish that a tropical fish "mentor" of mine had dropped into a lake in the late 1950s.
I have also picked up some vicious small chichlids in Costa Rica that my father in law had in a pond. (managuense?)

I am now retired and living in Germany where my wife is finishing up her teaching career with the military and expect to move permanently to Florida in about 3 years.

I would be pleased to exchange thoughts on fish collecting from jungle streams in Latin America, and might even be up to a trip to guide some people to Panamanian rivers.

I only have 2 goldfish as we speak...Its hard to get serious about this hobby until you have permanent digs.

Bob Sprague
 
There are a few members here that have experience with collecting in central and south America. If you go to the Cichlid section (especially the media section) you will find them. Sounds like you saw some very cool fish in their natural habitat... Would love to go myself someday.
 
Thanks for your responses. The fish that clockwork orange uses looks like some of the large powder blue cichlids that I have caught in Gatun Lake...I even brought some to the states years ago while at the U of Maryland to have in my dorm. I gave them away after graduating. They can get to be about 12 incles long.

Panama also has fresh water hatchet fish, eels small stingrays, soles, clams, shrimp, mosquito fish big mollies, crabs, knife fish, and pipefish..Some of these may have originally come from the sea into the lake through the canal. I caught a red snapper in a lake connected to the canal above the tital level and above the Miraflores locks...All that is changing with the widening of the canal and they are expecting some parts to become saltier and brackish...

Neat place...
 
Bob Sprague said:
Thanks for your responses. The fish that clockwork orange uses looks like some of the large powder blue cichlids that I have caught in Gatun Lake...I even brought some to the states years ago while at the U of Maryland to have in my dorm. I gave them away after graduating. They can get to be about 12 incles long.

Panama also has fresh water hatchet fish, eels small stingrays, soles, clams, shrimp, mosquito fish big mollies, crabs, knife fish, and pipefish..Some of these may have originally come from the sea into the lake through the canal. I caught a red snapper in a lake connected to the canal above the tital level and above the Miraflores locks...All that is changing with the widening of the canal and they are expecting some parts to become saltier and brackish...

Neat place...
Click to expand...
Kronoheros umbriferus is known to be found in Gantun Lake. I have two individuals that I believe came from the Rio Sambu population in Panama.
 
Old thread but does anyone know about this mancholo that Mr. Sprague mentioned a few posts back?
 
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