Mayan & JD habitat video

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duanes

duanes

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Isla Taboga Panama via Milwaukee
Just got back from the Yucatan, and took a couple hours of video over a weeks time.
This raw footage is from a small pool next to Cenote Azul just west of hwy 307 between Puerto Aventuras and Tulum.
Click to run the video, it's probably less than 5 minutes, and use full screen.
 
Here are a few stills (without fish)from Cenote Cristalino, this cenote had JDs as the only cichlid, live bearers, and catfish.
The day these were taken there were many weekend tourists diving off rocks and splashing around, creating turbidity, and most of the cichlids were in hiding, so I settled for stricktly habitat shots, it was a short photo session.



 
That's so cool. I would love to take a trip like that one day.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Hi Duane,
Your video brings back memories as I, in the 80s used to go to the Yucatan and collect cichlids. I brought back uropthalmus, petenia spendida, salvini, splilurum and meeki plus a few non cichlids. Those were the days when you could take fish out ... no problem. Now I suppose it's not possible without special permits, or not at all. Although I didn't manage to catch any, in Laguna Bacalar there were Paraneetroplus melanurus in large schools, full adult size. They weren't very colorful with the water being so clear but it was amazing seeing dozens of them 'sailing' though the branches of submerged trees. In your video, am I mistaken or are there 'melanurum' there? Sure looks like them. Also it's quite something how many fish have chunks out of there fins. A very common sight when I was snorkeling there too. And the population densities were quite high. I'd love to get down there again sometime. It's always an adventure. Cheers
 
This is a very simple trip to do, most cenotes are safe and easily accessible, and although I bring my own mask and snorkel, rentals are available.
Cenote Azul is approx 120 km south of Cancun, took me about an hour from the airport.
I stayed at a small Eco-resort called Belair, that is almost directly across the street from a number of cenotes.
At first I thought some cichlids may have been melanurus, but the large cenote (Azul) was full of strictly uros, and the ones in the video may have simply been sub-dom uros and were in a small pool connected to Azul.
The large cenote had large shoals of uros, I was amazed, and got some crazy video that is too long to post, and needs editing.
I didn't try to collect, most of the visible fish were too fast and too large, I think the fry and juvies were hidden in the unaccesible tangle of mangrove roots, or in flooded forest.
Below is cenote Xpu ha, it was on the grounds of the eco-resort we stayed at.
 
I just went back and re-watched the video, I and see what you guys are seeing about the melanurus, I didn't think their range was as far north as Azul, but one never knows.
 
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