30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL

Transcription

DER
MAKROPODE
ISSN 0937-177X
31. Jahrgang – Februar 2009
Zeitschrift der IGL
Internationale Gemeinschaft für Labyrinthfische
1/09
– 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL –
Der Makropode – 31. Jahrgang – 1 / 2009
1
Pseudosphromenus dayi-Male of Alleppey in the nest hole Pseudosphromenus dayi-Female of Alleppey
2
(Photo: K.-H. Roßmann)
(Foto: K.-H. Roßmann)
Contents
Peter Finke
Editorial
4
Ingo Schindler On the spelling of the Species name of the genus Trichogaster
(Formerly Colisa) and Trichopodus
5
Ingo Schindler News on the taxonomy and distribution of Macropodus species
9
Karl-Heinz Rossmann The side-group – Spiketail Paradise fish and their habitats
13
Michael Schafenberg Koh Chang, the elefant Island
17
Jörg Töpfer
On the 200. Anniversary of Charles Darwin
22
IGL
internal
Hans-Jürgen Ende Meeting of the International Community for labyrinth fish(IGL) from
02 to 05 October 2008 in Deggendorf-Natternberg/Bavaria
25
Auke de Jong
Invitation to the General Assembly on 03 May 2009 in Riesa
29
Michael Schafenberg
Regional group Kölner Bucht, A small annual review
30
Dieter Dhms Program 2009 of the IGL regional group Bavaria and
the DKG regional group Munich
31
Karl-Heinz Rossmann Regional group Rhein-Main-Neckar Year agenda 2009
32
Anke Binzenhöfer
Agenda of the Southwest Regional group for 2009
32
Auke de Jong
International Channidae-meeting
33
Imprint
33
Cover picture:
Pseudophromenus cupanus-Male of Kovalam (Photo: K.-H. Roßmann)
3
Our President, Auke de Jong, asked me
on very short notice to write this editorial
for him. This, because he simply did not
have the time to write it himself. That
can happen. You plan everything to
perfection to complete this and that at a
certain time and then…it is quite different.
Even important deadlines may have to
be reevaluated because all of a sudden
something else needs attention, which is
even more important.
Please, dear IGL members, you always
have to remember the fact that some in our
midst, voluntarily, without being obliged
in any way or compensated financially,
spend time on a job or a function in our
community. The association law requires
this, but mostly we are also happy to do
it. We expect no special gratitude, but
some understanding
that sometimes
there are even more important things,
which suddenly arise, and then demand
immediate attention.
Because of that, it is quite unusual
and a testament to the dedication and
conscientiousness, that there are people
among us that held or contributed too,
responsible positions for a very, very long
time . Dr. Jürgen Schmidt, for example,
is such a ‘dyed in the wool “IGL-er. Or
Norbert Neugebauer, who held the position
of president for 13 years.. Or Harald Hehl,
who served an incredible 22 years in various
offices, including many years as Treasurer
of the IGL. This is anything but ordinary.
Especially since the one responsible for the
finances is the only one on the board who‘s
work is regularly checked for correctness
and accuracy! And an office which really
requires a lot of work, work, that has really
preciously little to do with fish.
Es gibt einen Anlass für solch besinnliche
Gedanken: Mit diesem „Makropoden
I/2009“ treten wir in unser Jubiläumsjahr
ein. Die IGL, im Januar 1979 gegründet,
wird dreißig. Vor fünf Jahren, zum
fünfundzwanzigsten,
hat
Norbert
Neugebauer auf der Tagung in Riesa
deshalb zurück geblickt und an diejenigen
erinnert, die die IGL aus der Taufe gehoben
und sie in diesem ersten Vierteljahrhundert
geführt haben. In wenigen Wochen werden
wir uns – welch ein Zufall! – wieder in Riesa
treffen und, hoffentlich alle miteinander
in guter Stimmung, unseren Dreißigsten
begehen. Bei allem, was noch besser
gemacht werden kann und auch besser
gemacht werden muss: Dies ist ein Grund
zur Freude!
Editorial
Some reflective
thoughts
There is good reason for such reflective
thoughts: With this issue; „Makropoden
I/2009“, we enter our anniversary year. The
IGL, founded in January 1979, will be thirty.
Five years ago at the twenty-fifth, Norbert
Neugebauer looked back at the meeting in
Riesa and reminded us of those who raised
the IGL from the cradle and led it in it‘s
first quarter century. In a few weeks, we
will meet again in - what a coincidence! Riesa and, hopefully, all together in a good
mood, be celebrating our thirtieth. With
everything that can still be done better and
also has to be done better: This is a cause
for celebration!
I too have witnessed these thirty years, the
first not yet a member, but then the rest as
a full member. That is to say: Not quite,
because in the middle, from 1983 to 2003,
were twenty years in which my occupation
was simply more important than the IGL.
Unfortunately I did not recognize it as such
and didn‘t communicate. Instead, all of a
sudden – without me noticing it at firstthe regular „Makropode stopped arriving.
Only after a long pause, in which the
familiar green booklet was simply gone, I
noticed that something wasn‘t right. It was
completely overshadowed by my university
life. My break from the IGL was anything
but planned.
4
They hadn‘t completely cancelled my
membership, but let it ‚sleep‘. Why? In those
days there was no automatic bank transfer.
You had to transfer the membership fees
regularly yourself. And someday I had
forgotten to do so, since now seminars
and lectures demanded my full attention.
(Is someone reading this who is currently
in a similar situation? Please immediately
send a direct debit, so the same thing
doesn‘t happen to you as it did me back in
the days).
When two decades later, the so-called
„retirement“ beckoned, I re-activated my
membership, since only then I noticed
that I was missing something: the green
booklet. Meanwhile, I have arranged for
all the missing issues to be sent and notice
that I have actually missed a lot. Of course,
not every published article has been of the
highest-quality , in these thirty years still
around one thousand have appeared. But
many, very many would deserve it to be
read again!
Many famous people have written for the
„Makropoden“ in these past three decades.
Some of these writers are no longer among
us. In this latest issue, among other, articles
by Ingo Schindler, Karl-Heinz Rossmann
and Michael Scharfenberg. These are
names that sound good, they understand
what they write about. Charly Rossmann
- to name one – has almost become a
synonym for Pseudosphromenus, one of
the most knowledgeable on the family of
Spiketail Paradise fishes. As long as the
IGL has such authors, one should not worry
about it‘s future.
The shape of this future will determine
the continuation of the prosperity of the
IGL. Auke de Jong would have liked to
participate for more than just two years
as our President.. But sometimes it differs
from what you might think and plan. Private
stuff or professional issues interferes
with our plans. See above. However it is
already a fact, that Auke has given us in
this short period some very important new
impetus. One of the initiatives that will
hopefully stay, includes the English version
of „Makropoden“. Since that unlocks,
next to our French sister publication, the
international world.
However Auke, for whatever came between
this, for the next „Makropoden“ you will
have to write the editorial one last time.
There is no way around that!
Yours Peter Finke
On the spelling of the Species name
of the genus
Trichogaster (Formerly Colisa) and Trichopodus
By Ingo Schindler
„I will repeat myself for as longas it takes, for you to understand me“ (Voltaire).
It would be useless , if I followed
the quote of the famous French
enlightenment writer and filosofer to the letter, and reprinted
my article from the Makropode
5/6 2005 on the spelling of
gourami names. This because,
in communication theories it
is generally accepted, that if a
message is not understood, it‘s
caused by the sender. The contributions in the Makropode “
3/08 have shown that with the
above mentioned article I have
failed to adequately explain the
facts. Therefore I would like to
further specify my comments on
the taxonomically correct spelling of the Trichogaster-species
name(formerly Colisa) . Furthermore, it may be appropriate
to take this opportunity to also
give references to the species
now included in Trichopodus
(formerly Trichogaster).
argued that the Type species
of Trichogaster was not the, in
1917 by Jordan previously determined “fasciatus” (nowadays
Trichogaster fasciata), but “trichopterus “(now Trichopodus
trichopterus) is. This was the
cause for the genus name Colisa
for the western species and
made Trichopodus a synonym
for Trichogaster.
Twelve years ago already Derijst (1997) pointed out this clearly
incorrect interpretation of the
1. Trichogaster or Colisa
Until 1923, everything was
clear: the Western, small gouramies were both in the scientific
as well as in the aquarium literature labelled as Trichogaster
and the far Indian, big gouramies as Trichopodus. But then
Myers (1923) in Copeia (journal
of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists)
Trichopodus trichopterus „Gold gourami“ during mating.
(Foto: H.-J. Richter)
5
3.The sex of Trichogaster
David Starr Jordan (1851–1931)
type species (see Töpfer 2008).
Britz (2004) obsoleted the name
Colisa. Nevertheless, the conservative view (Colisa for the
little gouramies and Trichogaster for the larger) remained in
the literature(with a few exceptions).
if not everything is completely
clear, so far everything indicates
that it is necessary to change
the genus names of the gouramies.(Schindler 2005). On top of
that several significant authors
(Britz, 2004 and Töpfer, 2008)
have spoken for the change, so
it seems that the time has come
to follow Roßmann‘s (2008) proposal.
Several contributions to the discussion (Schäfer 2003b, Schindler 2005) argued that it would
be wisest to await a thorough
analysis. Frank Schäfer, who
studies the taxonomy of the species now named (Schäfer 2003a),
continued to use, in a recently
published paper (Schäfer 2008),
the genus name Colisa. However, this time it is different. In
well researched, informative
essay on the life and works of
Lacepède Töpfer (2008) picks
up on the identified changes by
Derijst (1997), names the species accordingly and calls for
discussion on the topic. Roßmann (2008) followed up on this
initiative, and proposes to start
to use the „new“ names. Even
(Source: Internet)
2. Correct ending of main and
descriptive words
In the spelling of scientific
Species names the extension
depends, in describing words
(epithet), on the sex of the genus
name and in case of an added
noun on the original spelling
(Schneidewind
&
Schindler
2001, Schindler 2005). It therefore has to be clear, (I) what the
sex of the genus name is, and (II)
whether the Species name acts
as a descriptive word (adjective)
or as a noun (substantive).
6
The name Trichogaster derives,
according
to
Schmettkamp
(1985), from the Greek word thrix
(θρίξ = Hair) and gaster (γαστήρ =
Belly) . The „Gender of names
formed from Latin or Greek
words“ is described in article
30.1. of the International Rules
for the Zoological Nomenclature
(IRZN) . There (Art. 30.1.1.) it is
stated: „...if it is a compound
word formed from two or more
components, the gender is given
by the final component...“. In
this case „Gaster“. Furthermore
Art. 30.1.2. states: „a genusgroup name that is or ends in a
Greek word transliterated into
Latin without other changes
takes the gender given for that
word in standard Greek dictionaries“. Transliterated means,
that a word is changed from one
alphabet to another, letter by
letter. Looking at γαστήρ if we
follow Art. 30.1.2. as a next step
to clarify the gender, we need
to check if the word has been
transferred letter for letter from
the original alphabet. The word
γαστήρ is composed of γ (Gamma)
= g, α (Alpha) = a, σ (Sigma) =
s, τ (Tau) = t, ή (Eta) = e and ρ
(Rho) = r. Which spells „Gaster“.
Hence, the word has been transliterated, and therefore hast
the gender oft he word γαστήρ .
In all the dictionaries reviewed
by me (related to nomenclature
for example Werner 1972 and
Hentschel & Wagner 1986) it is
always regarded as feminin (ή).
On top of that it is listed in the
IRZN annex and there explicitly identified as feminine. Consequently, Trichogaster can be
labelled as feminine. This is confirmed by Schmettkamp (1985)
and Eschmeyer (1990, 2008),
who independent of eachother
determined Trichogaster as feminine.
With this all could have been
resolved, if Bloch & Schneider
(1801), the authors of Trichogaster , had not used for the
adjectival Species name of the
Type species the masculine
ending “faciatus” instead of
“fasciata”. We have to consider
Article 30.1.4.2. “ A genus-group
name that is or ends in a word of
common or variable gender
(masculine or feminine) is to be
treated as masculine unless its
author, when establishing
the name, stated that it is feminine ...”. Authors, who do not
possess sufficient knowledge
on grammar or simply want to
break the rules, could possibly
use this in certain situations, to
turn the feminine Trichogaster
into something masculine. Since
this contradicts the logic of language (grammar) and Article
30.1.1. the fact remains – also
following the earlier reasoning
, that Trichogaster is feminine
and not masculine, as suspected
by Rossmann (2008) .
http://www.mariposasmexicanas.com/docs/ICZN_Code.pdf
Trichogaster fasciata, here in the original (masculine and incorrect)
spelling „T. fasciatus“.
(after: Reuter o. J.)
4. Declination of adjektives
Declination (diffraction) of an
adjective(descriptive
word)
means that the word ending is
according to the Genus (grammatical gender), case (grammatical casel) or Number(Single,
plural). For the case discussed
here the first reason is crucial.
This means that the spelling of
the adjective has to follow the
grammatical gender.
Artikel
31.2. (IRZN) „Agreement in
gender“ relates to that: „ A species-group name, if it is or ends
in a Latin or latinized adjective or
participle in the nominative singular, must agree in gender with
the generic name with which it
is at any time combined..“. For
example: fasciatus (Masculine),
fasciata (Feminine), fasciatum
(Neutral). An adjective species
name, of which the ending is not
equivalent to the gender of the
genus, must be changed according to Article 34.2. An exception
is formed by words, which are
not Latin, or are Latinized. These
are treated, according to article
31.2.3. „ ... as indeclinable ...“.
5. Gender and spelling of main
words
Every substantive (noun) has
it‘s own grammatical gender.
Despite that this is not necessarily identical with the sex. In
German this is expressed by
„der“(male ‚the‘), „die“(female
‚the‘) and „das“(‚it‘). In Latin
these items are missing. Nevertheless male, female and neutral
are distinguised as in German.
However, the specific grammatical gender of the noun does not
restrict the word ending used by
the original author (for a masculine noun for example a feminine ending is possible). This
is pointed out in article 31.2.1.
(IRZN) : „ A species-group name
that is a simple or compound
noun….. in apposition need not
agree in gender with the generic
name with which it is combined
. ...“. Such a noun always retains
it‘s original spelling and (Article 34.2.1.) „... should not be
changed, ...“.
6. Species names of the Genus
Trichogaster
Taking into consideration all of
the above observations results
in the following five spellings for
Trichogaster-species:
6.1. Trichogaster chuna: The
species name is a substantive (Schmettkamp 1985), to
be ragarded as such (Article
31.2.2.) or as a non Latin word
(Article 31.2.3.) and as such non
declinable. It therefore keeps it‘s
original spelling regardless of
the gender of the species name.
Unlike stated by Roßmann (2004)
, this has nothing to do with the
„own sex“ of the noun.
7
Trichopodus microlepis: The
species name is a substantive
(Schmettkamp 1985).
Trichopodus pectoralis: It is an
adjective (Schmettkamp 1985),
which has the same ending in
both masculine and feminine
Genusnames.
Tichopodus trichopterus: The
Epithet is a substantive.
8. Thanks
For the critical reading of this
article I would like to thank
Hans-Joachim Paepke and Gerhard Ott. Despite that I take full
responsibility for any remaining
mistakes or inaccuracies.
9. Literature
Trichogaster labiosa, again in the old(incorrect masculine) spelling „T. labiosus“.
(after: Reuter o. J.)
6.2. Trichogaster fasciata: The
species name is an adjective
(Schmettkamp 1985). Following
article 34.2. this should adapt to
the gender of the Genus name.
6.3. Trichogaster labiosa: Adjektive (see „fasciata“).
6.4. Trichogaster lalius: It is
a noun (see also”chuna”). The
ending-us (as in the original
spelling) must always be maintained, even if the genus name is
the female sex (Schindler 2005).
This means that even in the
case of Colisa the correct name
should be Colisa lalius.
6.5. Trichogaster bejeus: In this
case it should be ragarded as a
substantive(see also „chuna“).
It retains it‘s original spelling.
7. Trichopodus
female?
–
male
or
This genus name is composed of
the Greek words ή θρίξ (thrix =
Hair) and ό πούς (pous = Foot) . The
second word „pous“ is masculine
(ό). On top of that it has not been
transliterated letter by letter, the
Latin ending –us(masculine) has
been added to it. Which means
that the grammatical gender for
this Latinized genus is masculine. Interestingly the spelling for
the species names – as described
hereafter – do not deviate from
the known ones.
Trichopodus leerii: It si a Genetive-species name („Which Trichopodus?“). The Epithet (Substantive) always keeps it‘s original spelling.
8
Britz, R. 2004. Why Colisa has
become Trichogaster and Trichogaster is now Trichopodus.
AAGB Labyrinth 136, 8–9
Derijst, E. 1997. Nota over de
geldigheid van de genusnamen:
Trichogaster Bloch & Schneider,
1801; Trichopodus Lacepede,
1801; Polyacanthus CUVIER, 1829
en Colisa Cuvier, 1831 (Perciformes: Belontiidae)... Aquarium
Wereld 60(9): 217–236.
Eschmeyer, W. N. 1990. Catalog of
the Genera of Recent Fishes. California Academy of Sciences San
Francisco. 1–697.
Eschmeyer, W. N. 2008. Catalog of
fishes. california Academy of Sciences - Ichthyology. Online Version 19 September 2008.
Internationale Regeln für die
Zoologische Nomenklatur. 2000.
Vierte Auflage. Offizieller Deutscher Text ausgearbeitet von Otto
Kraus. Abhandl. Naturwissenschaftl. Vereins Hamburg (NF),
34: 1–232.
Rossmann, K.-H. 2008. Neue
Namen für die Fadenfische? Der
Makropode 30(3): 79–80.
Reuter, F. o. J. Die fremdländischen
Süsswasserfische. Stuttgart.
Schäfer, F. 2003a. Wie viele Coli-
sa-Arten gibt es? Aquaristik Fachmagazin 35(5)Nr. 173: 12–16.
Schäfer, F. 2003b. Wie heißen
unsere Fadenfische? Aquaristik Fachmagazin 35(5)Nr. 173:
17–22.
Schäfer, F. 2008. Fadenfische der
Gattung Colisa – eine aktuelle Übersicht. Betta News 2/2008: 7–9.
Schindler, I. 2005. Die wissenschaftlichen Namen der Zwergfadenfische „Colisa“. Der Makropode 27: 84–85.
Schindler, I. & Schneidewind, F.
2001. Centropyge & Paracentropyge - Zur richtigen Schreibweise
der Artnamen. DATZ 54(11):
14–15.
Schmettkamp, W. 1985. Die Namen
unserer Aquarienfische, Hannover. 1–208.
Töpfer, J. 2008. Lacepède – 2. Teil:
Seine
Labyrinthfischgattungen
Osphronemus, Trichopodus und
Macropodus sowie die Gültigkeit
der Namen. Der Maropode 30(2):
41–52.
Werner, F.C. 1972. Wortelemente
lateinisch-griechischer Fachausdrücke in den biologischen Wissenschaften. Suhrkamp Taschenbuch 64.
Trichogaster lalius; here the origial
culine) is correct.
Hentschel, E. & Wagner, G. 1986.
Zoologisches Wörterbuch. Jena.
spelling
T. lalius (mas(after: Reuter o. J.)
h t t p : / / w w w. i g l - h o m e . d e /
makropode/2005.5–6.htm
News on the taxonomy
and distribution of Macropodus species
By Ingo Schindler
There is some interesting news
to report on the taxonomy of the
genus Macropodus . First, a book
published in Vietnam(Nguyen
2005) in 2005, which was „overseen“ until recently, contains the
description of four new species.
Furthermore, recently, an analysis
of morphometric data (Winstanley
& Clements 2008) appeared,
which also has an effect on the
taxonomy of the species. The
main results of these two publications will be briefly summarized
below and discussed. I would
also like to take this opportunity
to complement my previous comments on the dissemination of the
species.
Four new species
In Volume 3 of the „Freshwater fishes of Vietnam“(Nguyen
9
2005) Vietnamese scientists have
described four new species. The
initial descriptions contain no
further information how these
taxa differ from those already
described . Only some directions
are given on how to distinguish
between these new species. This
may be sufficient for the nomenclature rules, but is not very helpful when it comes to check on the
validity of the taxa. Since the text
is written in Vietnamese, it was
not easy to identify the essential
items. Despite careful examination the possibility of translation
errors from this exotic language
can not totally be excluded. Vietnamese scientists use their first
names for the identification of
authorship. Here however, - as
is common in other languages the family name of the relevant
authors were used.
The first species Macropodus
phongnhaensis
Vo,
Nguyen
& Nguyen in Nguyen 2005 is
described from four samples,
who‘s standard length was
between 37 and 53 mm. The
Taxon has been named after the
Phong Nha National park (Province Quang Binh, Northern central-Vietnam) . According to Vo et
al. in Nguyen (2005) the dorsal fin
in this species starts, similar to
M. lineatus before the start of the
anal fin. From M. lineatus it is distinguished by less anal fin spines
(XVI-XVIII as opposed to XIX-XXII
in M. lineatus), less scales on the
Linea lateralis (24-26 as opposed
to 27-29 in M. lineatus) and eight
transverse bands (absent in M.
lineatus). The second species
Macropodus lineatus Nguyen,
Vo & Nguyen in Nguyen 2005
also originates from the province
z Quang Binh and can be distinguished according to Nguyen et
al. (2005) from M. phongnhaensis
by 5 to 6 longitudinal lines and
the above indicated characteristics. The species name refers
to the longitudinal pattern.. The
satndard lengths of the type
specimens are between 55 and 69
mm. The next species is Macro-
podus oligolepis Nguyen, Vo &
Nguyen in Nguyen 2005. Standard length of the type specimens
is between 30-48 mm. The type
specimen habitat is Trach Phong
Nha-Ke Bang, which is also in
the province Quang Binh. In the
species diagnose this taxon is
only distinguished from M. baviensis. M. oligolepis (according to
Nguyen et al. 2005) differs from
the latter by fewer scales in the
lateral line(23-24 versus 30-31)
and that the dorsal fin starts
before the anal fin. Besides that
it is indicated that the anal fin is
connected to the caudal fin. The
species name is derived from the
unusually low number of scales in
the lateral line. The last taxon is
Macropodus baviensis Nguyen
& Nguyen in Nguyen 2005. The
Holotype of this species has a
standard length of 36,9 mm. Type
locality is Suoi Hai (North-West of
Hanoi) in the District Ba Vi in the
province Ha Tay (North-Vietnam).
By Nguyen & Nguyen (in Nguyen
2005) only differences to M. oligolepis are given in the species
diagnose(see there). Next to that
it is briefly stated that M. baviensis as opposed to M. oligolepis
has wider transverse bands on
the sides of the body. The name
of the species relates to the type
locality in the district Ba Vi.
area. New methods to catch fish
or targeted investigation of special microhabitats can also lead
to the discovery of new species in
well researched areas.
Even though the discovery of new
species cannot be ruled out, in
this particular case it should be
noted that despite intensive collection efforts in the North-WestVietnam region by Freyhof &
Herder (2002) and Winstanley &
Clements (2008), only fish identified by them as M. erythropterus
(=M. spechti, see below) and M.
opercularis could be found. The
same goes for Noth-Vietnam
(Habitat of M. baviensis). Kottelat (2001) identified the fish found
there as M. opercularis. That
does not mean, that by studying
known data and reevaluation of
the available material, or applying different species concepts,
new taxa can be identified in an
ichthyologically well researched
Winstanley & Clements (2008)
analyzed
morphometric
features (measurement and count
values and color characteristics)
in newly collected specimens as
well as in previously examined
specimens with statistical methods. They have shown that based
on numbers and measurements
only M. ocellatus can be clearly
distinguished from the others.
This confirms the results which
have already been discussed in
the Makropode(Schindler 2004a).
Based on color four species can
be classified according to their
investigations, M. opercularis,
M. ocellatus, M. spechti and M.
hongkongensis. The by Freyhof &
Herder (2002) indicated color differences between the “Redback”
10
Failing indications of how these
new taxa differ from the well
known, make it hard to check
them. On top of that the frequently
used distinguishing mark of the
relative position of the anal fin by
Nguyen et al. (2005) is very variable within the species and more
gender specific and less usable in
distinguishing taxa (Paepke 1994).
The remarkably low number of
23-24 scales in the lateral line in
M. oligolepis (as opposed to >25
in the other species) and the in
Macropodus-species until now
undescribed longitudinal pattern
of M. lineatus (on the illustrating
picture this sadly cannot be seen)
make it possible that the species
could actually be valid ones.When
reviewing the available data. and
without further evidence, it could
very well be that in the case of
M. phongnhaensis it concerns
a synonym for M. erythropterus
(=M. spechti, see below) and in
M. baviensis for M. opercularis.
New analysis
of morphological data
and the Black-Paradise fish could
not be confirmed. Macropodus
erythropterus cannot be distinguished from M. spechti objectively. The few color differences
between the two species have
already been pointed out in the
Makropode (Schaller 2004, Schindler 2004b). Winstanley & Clements (2008) therefore propose
to consider M. erythropterus as a
synonym of M. spechti (M. erythropterus = M. spechti). Because
of the large distribution area of
M. opercularis, Freyhof & Herder
(2002) and Schaller (2004) speculated, whether under this taxon
several species are hiding. Winstanley & Clements (2008) calculated this as a possibility and
treated the Vietnamese and Chinese Paradise fish(M. opercularis)
as separate operating groups.
There was actually evidence to
suggest that that these two groups
can be distinguished potentially
as morphospecies. However, the
phenotypic variability should not
be underestimated. In addition,
M. opercularis inhabits shallower
areas along the coast and as such
has higher population dynamics, which makes an exchange
between populations more likely.
This combined with the uniformity of phenotypic appearance of
the Paradise fish suggest that M.
opercularis consists of a single
species (see Schindler 2004b).
If, however, by reviewing other
features, it can be confirmed that
the Vietnamese “opercularis” can
be distinguished of the CentralChina species, the above taxon
“baviensis” might have a crucial
new significance.
About the distribution
of Macropodus-species
Because of the intensive research
by Winstanley and taking into
account the taxonomic changes
the current information on the dissemination of the species can be
both corrected and/or clarified.
The northernmost natural habi-
tats of M. opercularis are likely
located in the area of the Yangtze (around 33rd degree latitude)
. Habitats in Korea are likely to
be introduced animals (Paepke
1994). The southern border has
been shown by Freyhof & Herder
(2002), the river system of the
Dong Nai (South Vietnam).
The Black Makropode (M. spechti
[until the decision by the Nomenclature Commission in 2006 the
species was known as M. concolor]) inhabits the rivers of Dong
Hoi (17 ° 30 ‘N), Quang Binh
province in the north and Hoi At
(15 ° 50 ‘N), Quang Nam province (south of Heaven‘s peak),
in the south (Freyhof & Herder
2002, Winstanley & Clements
2008). Contrary to the empirical
data it has been claimed various
times in The Makropode that M.
spechti can only be found in the
immediate vicinity of the city
of Hue, and in no case occurs in
the vicinity or south of Heaven‘s
peak (see Bachmann, 2005a, b).
The repeated references to habitats south of heaven‘s peak in the
Makropode (for example, Schaller
2004, Schindler 2004b), have been
overlooked. Bachmann (2005a, b)
justified his view with the fact
that he was unable to catch Black
Pradise fish in the region. The fact
that a search for a species in the
region traveled was not collected,
does not necessarily mean that
it does not occur there. Rather, it
depends on the season and the
technical skill, stamina and knowledge of the collector preferred
micro-habitats, whether a particular species can be caught. The
habitats in the western outskirts
of Da Nang (south of Heaven‘s
Peak) have been described repeatedly the Makropoden (Schindler
2004a, Töpfer 2006, Kühne 2008).
At one locality, I could even collect M. spechti and M. opercularis
together. (Schindler 2004a).
In the beginning M. hongkongensis was only known from Hong
Kong (Freyhof & Herder 2002).
Meanwhile however numerous
sites on the Chinese mainland
have been recorded in Guangdong province (Zhou 2008). Winstanley & Clements (2008) could
on top of that add Fujian province
(north-west of Hong Kong) to the
distribution of the HongKong Paradise fish.
Previous indications according
to which M. ocellatus could be
found south of Hong Kong or even
in Vietnam are likely to be caused
by mix-ups with other species
because despite extensive collecting neither in North Vietnam
(Kottelat 2001) nor in the vicinity of Hong Kong (Winstanley
& Clements 2008) Round-tailed
Paradise fish have been found.
The southern and the northern
boundaries, for which the Amur
river system is named (Paepke
1994), must therefore be explored
in more detail.
Effects on the differentation of
Paradise fish in the aquarium
hobby
The species is the most important
unit, when it comes to communicating, for example when we discuss experiences in fishkeeping
or organize the exchange of animals.Still it is not the smallest unit
used in the hobby. However, it is
not the smallest unit in the aquarium is used. Now that it is known
that opinions which populations
can be recognized as separate
species are very different from
one author to another (for reasons
which lead to that see Schindler
2009), special types with separate names, added to the Species
name in quotes occur.
This is mostly related to the habitat of the population concerned.
This procedure is particularly
important for new discoveries,
which taxonomically have not
yet been studied, or in groups
who‘s classification are subject
to discussion or change. In relation to the above this results,
when regarding the combination
of the two taxa M. erythropterus
11
and M. spechti to a single species, in a certain “need”. How
should the currently separately
identified and cultivated aquarium specimens be treated in the
future? In my opinion we should
think about whether the “separation” in the aquarium hobby can
be maintained insofar as that the
“formerly” known M. erythropterus at least temporarily can be
labelled M. spechti “Redback”.
This approach does not limit the
Synonymisation of the two taxa
by Winstanley & Clements (2008),
and enables us to maintain different populations. Schaller (2004)
also distinguishes between a
Southern-(= M. spechti south of
Heaven‘s peak, Bach Ma mountain range) and a northern- Black
paradise fish (= M. spechti north
of Heaven‘s peak) as well as a solabelled Tiger Paradise fish form
from the area north of the Bach
Ma mountain range. Again, this
classification makes sense from
an aquarium point of view, if we
consider the differences between
those populations (see photos of
Seehaus in The Makropode 3 / 08;
Kühne 2008). Nonetheless, the
“post-investigation“ of the four
new taxa (see above) has to be
awaited before we can establish
how many species will be distinguished in the genus.
Thanks
For sending me the Vietnamese
Literature I would like to thank
Harro Hieronimus and Jürgen
Schmidt and for discussions on
the theme I would like to thank
Hans-Joachim Paepke and Tom
Winstanley. Further thanks go to
Gerhard Ott for the critical reading of the manuscript.
Literature
Bachmann, M. 2005a. Macropodus
concolor – Theorie und Praxis.
Der Makropode 27: 28–29.
Bachmann, M. 2005b. Trichopsis
und Trichogaster in Thailand
und Trichopsis und Macropodus
in Vietnam. Der Makropode 27:
202–204.
Freyhof, J. & Herder, F. 2002.
Review of the paradise fishes of
the genus Macropodus in Vietnam, with description of two new
species from Vietnam and southern China (Perciformes: Osphronemidae). Ichthyol. Explor.
Freshwaters 13: 147–167.
Kottelat, M. 2001. Freshwater Fishes of Northern Vietnam. A preliminary check-list
of the fishes known or expected
to occur in northern Vietnam
with comments on systematics
and nomenclature. World Bank,
Washington, D.C.123pp.
Kühne, J. 2008. Neues zu den
Wolkenpassmakropoden.
Der
Makropode 30: 81–83.
Nguyen, V. H. 2005. Ca Nuoc
Ngot Viet Nam. Tap III. [Die
Süßwasserfische von Vietnam,
Teil III]. Hà Nôi, Nhà Xuâ’t Ban
Nông Nghiêp. 759 pp.
12
Paepke, H.-J. 1994. Die Paradiesfische. Die neue Brehm-Bücherei
Bd. 616, Magdeburg.
Schaller, D. 2004. Die Wolkenpass-Makropoden – eine dieserart bislang unbeschriebene Evolutionsgemeinschaft. Der Makropode 26: 145–155.
Schindler, I. 2003. Multidimensionale
Analyse
morphometrischer Daten der MacropodusArten. Der Makropode 25: 168–
171.
Schindler, I. 2004a. Biotope und
Lebensraumansprüche
von
Macropodus concolor in der
Umgebung von Da Nang (Zentral-Vietnam). Der Makropode
26: 22–25.
Schindler, I. 2004b. Gedanken
über die Makropoden ZentralVietnams. Der Makropode 26:
182–187.
Schindler, I. 2009. Warum gibt es
mehr maulbrütende als schaumnestbauende Betta-Arten? Der
Makropode 30: 84–89.
Töpfer, J. 2006. Vietnam, Wolkenpass und Schwarze Makropoden.
Der Makropode 28: 96–98.
Winstanley, T. & Clements, K.D.
2008. Morphological re-examination and taxonomy of the genus
Macropodus (Perciformes, Osphronemidae). Zootaxa 1908: 1–27.
Zhou Hang 2008. Verbreitungsgebiet von Macropodus hongkongensis auf dem chinesischen
Festland / Distribution of Macropodus hongkongensis in the
mainland China. Betta News
4/2008: 27–28.
Backwaters in Alleppey
The side-group –
Spiketail Paradise fish and their habitats
Text and Photos by Karl-Heinz Rossmann
The Spiketail Paradise fish of the
genera Malpulutta and Pseudosphromenus inhabit western
southern India and southwest
Sri Lanka These habitats on the
southwestern edge of the distribution of Asian labyrinthfish
are over a thousand kilometers
away from the nearest labyrinthfish occurrence. Older data
in the literature , according to
which Pseudosphromenus dayi
is also found in Vietnam and
on Sumatra, have not been confirmed and are probably based
on confusion with Trichopsis
and Parosphromenus.
Of all three species named here,
Pseudosphromenus
cupanus,
the Black Spiketail Paradise fish
has the biggest distribution area.
It extends from Goa in the north,
along the Malabar Coast to the
southern tip of Indian peninsula
and includes the southwest of
Sri Lanka. Like all Spiketails,
also P. cupanus inhabits only the
coastal lowlands. P. dayi, Day‘s
Spiketail, occupies an area on
the Malabar coast from Cochin
in the North to almost the southern tip. It‘s occurence overlaps
with P. cupanus, but both species seem to ecologically „go
their own way“. Malpulutta
kretseri was in the past probably widespread in the then
still existing lowland rainforest
of southwestern Ceylon, but
because of it‘s higher demands
on the habitat unlike P. dayi was
unable to change to secondary
biotopes and as a result is only
found in the remaining rainforest islands.
13
Pseudosphromenus-Biotope in Alleppey
Spiketails only occur there,
where India and Ceylon are
truly tropical. Two species, M.
kretseri and P. dayi, inhabit
solely rainforest climates, with
Malpulutta actually depending
on rainforest streams. Pseudosphromenus dayi is not known
from the South-Indian rainforests, but inhabits the coastal
lowlands with watersupply
from rainforest rivers. Probably
rainforest also grew there in the
past, but had to make way for
the human population. P. dayi
has been able to remain established there in these changing
conditions.
Many descriptions of the occurrence in the Kottawa forest in
Ceylon has been published. I
myself was never in in Kottawa
and will therfore limit myself to
describing habitats of P. dayi and
P. cupanus, which I caught several years ago on several trips as
a backpacker in southern India
and Sri Lanka. Measurements,
such as electrical conductivity,
water hardness and pH values,
I can not provide, let alone GPSData, because as a backpacker
familiar with public transportation by land, I only bring what I
absolutely need.
Habitat 1: Residual pools in rice
fields between the village of
Colva and the coast, the state
of Goa in southern India, travel
time end of March, early April.
This is in India the hottest time
of the year, also in the soutern
Indian state of Goa which is
still under the influence of the
more northern Indian monsoon
climate. In the monsoon climate there is the rain season,
the monsoon, from June to September, in which there is almost
daily heavy rainfall. This is followed by a cooler and dry period
from October to early March, in
which it is slowly getting hotter,
until in June the first rains start
to fall. During my stay in Goa it
was so hot, that I was only able
to take my borrowed bike in the
morning and in the late afternoon to search in the dry rice
fields for residual waterholes.
These had been dug by the
14
farmers to irrigate their vegetable plots and for the water buffalo to wallow in. These pools
were cloudy, very warm, and
except for one which was completely covered with Salvinia,
because of the fertilizer from the
wallowing buffaloes, plant free.
Fsihing in these holes was more
collecting, the fluorescent spots
of Aplocheilus lineatus could
be spotted from afar, and every
stroke with the net returned
besides these pikes Pseudosphromenus cupanus, Aplocheilus
kirchmayeri and Barbus vittatus
from the water. If I moved the
net a little faster and deeper I
was also able to catch the loach
Lepidocephalichthys
thermalis. All fish caught were at best
medium sized and severely malnutritioned. Especially the small
Aplocheilus existed virtually
only from eyes and bones. I was
unable to catch adult fish who
had probably already become a
victim of the many kingfishers
and little egrets.
Habitat 2: Trench excavated in
a feral coconut plantation and
a flowing creek a few meters
beside it in the southern outskirts of Alleppey in the Backwaters, a vast lagoon area in the
southern Indian state of Kerala.
Time: Early November
This area is located much further south than Goa, here the
monsoon climate is superimposed by the rainforest climate
of the neighboring Nilgiri mountains. There are two rain seasons, a major one in June, July
and August, and a smaller one
in November and December. At
all times extraordinary heavy
rainfall can occur. Moreover, the
area receives additional water
from the rivers from the Nilgiri
Mountains where it rains very
frequently. Hence it’s never
really dry in Kerala.
The excavated trench where I
stood end of October 1988, was
filled because of the water pres-
sure of the nearby stream and
had probably during a flood of
this river also been populated
by fish. The trench had no connection to the creek, and no fish
could be seen, so I went tot he
neighbouring stream. It took
quite a few strokes with the
net, before the first Aplocheilus
blockii was in the bag. After
many unsuccessful strokes with
the net through the thick water
hyacinths I caught the first
Pseudosphromenus dayi. And
that was that. Many net strokes
thereafter with onlya tiny A.
blockii to show for, I turned
without much hope tot he excavated trench. Here the floating
plants were even denser. So I
pushed the net deep into the
plants, took out the net with the
plants and emptied it onto the
shore and started to sort them
out. Behold, a P. Dayi was in
there and my enthusiasm was
back again. To cut a long story
short, two hours later and with
a garbage bag full of plants I
was exhausted, covered in muck
and had a face “like a cat that
got the cream” - Original quote
from my fellow travelers - but
above all, returned with twelve
P . dayi in the bag to the hotel.
Also four Aplocheilus blockii, six
A. lineatus and a small swarm of
tiny barbs, probably Horadandia
akutorali or a related species
were brought back.
Habitat 3: Rice field drainage
ditches in Kovalam, Kerala,
South India. Time: early November
The small fishing and farming
village of Kovalam is located
almost at the southern tip of
Indian
peninsula.
Between
the city and the beach, a creek
for watering the rice fields is
dammed up. The water is distributed to the rice fields and
is unified again behind the rice
fields into a stream which flows
over a small piece of land with
Rice fields in Kovalam
coconut
beach.
palms,
towards
the
Kovalam has one of the most
beautiful beaches,that I know. It
was chosen by me to serve, after
a long and not quite untroublesome trip through India, as
a place for bathing and relaxing. Besides that I knew that
Kovalam is home to a particularly colorful Aplocheilus blockii
. Very convenient that the corresponding biotopes were one
hundred meters behind the
beach and fifty meters behind
the hotel. Fishing here was a
breeze and after an hour fifty A.
blockii and just as many Pseudosphromenus cupanus were
bagged. Both the pikes and the
Spiketails inhabited the calmer
and shallower parts of the
stream, where as the deeper,
faster flowing parts were home
to the barbs Devario aequipinnatus, Rasbora daniconius and
the cichlid Etroplus maculatus.
Occasionally I netted small juveniles of marine species, such as
Scatophagus argus and Therapon jarbua. Ofcourse I have not
taken those with me. Especially
the extremely beautiful tiny
Therapon I very carefully sorted
out. These “piranhas of Asia
‘are able to organize a complete
massacre in a fish bag. Even
when kept amongst themselves
one cannot enjoy them for long,
since always the smallest fish is
hunted down by the others, and
ripped into pieces when caught.
And this goes on and on until
only one remains.
Habitat 4: Flooded edge of a
lagoon at Hikkaduwa in southern Sri Lanka, traveling period
end of August.
Hikkaduwa, a place now wellknown by tourists, is climatically
located in the rainforest zone in
southern Sri lanka. Of course a
rainforest is no longer present
there. Like almost everywhere
in the Ceylon lowlands the landscape is dominated by rice fields
and coconut palms. Behind this
village which used to be only
a single long street with fisherman’s and farmer’s houses
15
Artemia, was quickly resented.
The orginal Kovalam strain no
longer exists within the IGL, but
frequently wildcaught fish from
Kerala can be found in the stores.
P. cupanus from South India are
approximately one third larger
than the fish from Sri Lanka,
have much more extended fins
and display a very significant
part “head pattern”.
Rice field-Biotope
- nowadays there are only new
hotels - flowed a small river
towards a lagoon, this river’s
salinity almost certainly fluctuates because of rainfall and tides.
The shores of the lagoon were
flooded and hard to access. Only
at one place the dam offered
access to a previously harvested
and at the time grass overgrown
rice field. From afar rice fish, recognizable from the blue shiny
eyes, could be observed, probably they were Oryzias carnaticus (since no other rice fish is
found in Sri Lanka), responded
to every attempt to catch them
with an immediate flight into
the lagoon. And if the rice fish
are gone anyway, and the net’s
unpacked, why not try to see if
something can be caught with
the net in the over flown grass?
That said, and done, it will be
no surprise to anyone that a
few Pseudosphromenus cupanus were in the net. But nothing else, not even small Oryzias
fry, which I actually expected to
catch.
And what has become of the fish
I brought home? The bad news
first: the Pseudosphromenus
cupanus from Colva grew very
quickly to sexual maturity,
became really large but were
not very colorful. Despite that,
they reproduced abundantly and
pretty soon I was able to spread
a lot of juveniles within the IGL.
But the same happened with all
fish with all keepers, even before
reaching sexual maturity the
fish developed ulcers, bumps,
swollen bellies and protruding
scales. An F2 was not achieved,
neither by me nor by other keepers. Since then P. cupanus has
been brought from Goa several
times, but always with the same
result.
P. cupanus from Kovalam did
much better. These fish were
with their bluerimmed fins and
red eyes relatively colorful for
cupanus and they were very
stabile over generations, even
if abundant feeding with a particular food, especially with
16
The P. cupanus from Hikkaduwa
proved to be the toughest of all
brought cupanus. They remained
smaller when fully grown as
compared to their Indian counterparts, with less elongated
fins, the whole fish seemed more
compact and somewhat’fragile”.
It’s bright red eyes, the red anal
fin and the red bottom half of
the caudal fin made the fish look
really pretty. Also this strain has
now probably disappeared from
the IGL but has been collected
several other times and is also
commecrcially imported. At this
time we have fish from several
localities, and in my opinion the
prettiest strain is the one from
Beruwela.
The
significant
differences
between the P. cupanus strains
from India and Sri Lanka should
stop us at all times to cross these
localities. This would result in
a combination-cupanus, which
doesn’t display the specific
characteristics of the Indian nor
of the Ceylon strains, and which
will really be a ‘ dull brown fish’
for which Pseudosphromenus
cupanus is often mistaken.
And now for some happier
news: The Pseudosphromenus
dayi from Alleppey are still
around in the IGL. This fish has
endured being bred for 20 years
in our tanks, without new blood,
and they haven’t changed, they
still look as colorful as they did
twenty years ago.
Koh Chang, the Elephant Island
By Michael Scharfenberg
Koh Chang coast – a paradise for tourists
In February 2006 Bianca, Pascal,
Bernd and me visited Thailand.
After two weeks of fishing in
Issan – an arid area at this time
of the year – we still wanted to
relax a bit. We chose Koh Chang,
the second largest island of
Thailand. We took the intercity
bus from Bangkok to Trat which
is 300 km away and from where
a ferry should bring us to Koh
Chang. This doesn’t sound much
and in Germany an overland bus
needs not more than three or
four hours for such a distance.
However in Asia life proceeds
at a different pace. After 90
minutes you are still travelling
through the suburbia of Bangkok. Unbelievable how big this
town is. Bit by bit the landscape
becomes greener, you pass big
rivers as well as sewers and you
see paddy field and orchards
passing. More than once we itch
to shout “stop” and to unpack
our fishing nets. Our fellow passengers certainly would not
have appreciated it. But perhaps
they would have helped us? Due
to the usual delays and breakdowns we only arrived late at
the pier of the ferry. Then a little
aged ferry finally brought us to
Koh Chang. Here our host’s son
who we had informed about our
lateness before by phone, was
already waiting for us.
In 1982 Koh Chang was defined
as “Koh Chang National Marine
Park“ together with 46 smaller
islands. Monkeys, boars and
different sort of snakes live in
these mountains which are up
to 750 m high. The forest is one
of the best preserved one of
whole Southeast Asia. There are
only a few villages at the coast.
The people live on fishing and
on earnings of palm kernel oil,
rubber trees and coconut plantations. Unfortunately a lot of these
plantations broadly extend into
the protected forest which you
often don’t realize at first view.
We only noticed these “wild”
acreages during our exploring
tours to the waterfalls. The west
coast of this island (which is 30
km long and 8 – 13 km wide) has
strongly been cultivated over
the years.
Hotels and resorts are springing
up like mushrooms here. The
Tsunami disaster on the west
coast of Thailand is even accelerating this construction phase.
On the east coast however you
only find a few villages and
hotels. The bays here are still
very natural and romantic. On
the trip to our accommodation we
quickly got to talk to our driver.
He spends his holidays with his
family coming from Munich in
the resort of his father who is an
enthusiastic sailor. No wonder
that he chose such a beautiful bay to build his “Koh Chang
Island View Resort”. The particular of this resort is its location.
Situated 100 m from the coast it
reclines in the bay of Salak Phet
which is built on more than 200
17
columns made from concrete.
Finally we arrived – the sun
had already gone down slowly
behind the horizon – we were
flabbergasted. From our room
we had a marvellous view over
the bay and the offshore isles.
The small and seemingly introspective fishing village with its
fishing boats tossing in the sea
swells completed the impression – “we are in a paradise for
tourists”. We quickly unpacked
the rucksacks, had a shower, put
on fresh clothes (in case you still
have got any after a two week’s
fishing tour) and quickly out for
dinner. Later we drank a beer and
quickly started to chat with our
host. After the common “who are
you, what are you doing, where
do you come from?”, he listed us
their offer of activities. Sailing,
kayaking, diving and sea-angling sounded very good. However the fact that tourists were
interested in the freshwater
fishes of the island, was a completely new experience for him.
Though he could give us many
information and hints about the
streams and rivers which are
still bearing water at this time of
the year. But the most important
information was that we had not
to hang up the mosquito nets,
because mosquitos stay wellbehaved on the island.
Tuk Tuk Tuk...
I wake up and hear the fishing
boats returning to the village
from their nightly tour. It’s dawn,
a slight shower blows over the
sea and crimps the water surface. Nothing keeps me in bed
now, I pull out my camera and
go for my explorations. What an
unbelievable morning! The sun
is rising, I am listening to countless birdcalls, there is a light
shower of rain and a waft of
mist over the water. In between
again and again fishes jumping
out of the water and capturing
vermins or shooting up on the
run from their predators. In the
distance I see some dolphins. I
feel so unreal, just like in another
world. Hunger brings me back
into our world. Breakfast on the
terrace with a view to the mountains of the island abundantly
covered with vegetation. After
breakfast we have our morning discussion. A detailed map
helps us a lot. But first we had
to get two scooters. This would
not be a problem on the west
side of the island, but in the east
there is no possibility to rent any
scooter. So back to the pier of the
ferry by bus and rent two scooters. It wasn’t that easy to find
out the reasonably functional
ones. Porous wheels and wheels
without pattern are quite usual.
Functionless brakes as standard
of technology are normal as well,
apart from the deformed components. Therefore the motor is
almost always in good order and
economical. Finally Bernd got
one with at least a good brake
and I got one with a broken
instrument panel. Oh well, you
can estimate the speed and
when driving my old Zündapp
at home I also need to look into
the tank in order to know how
far I can still go. Besides Bernd
and me, we had co-drivers who
could have pushed us in case
of need. What follows was the
usual grin when choosing the
crash-helmets being anything
else but safe, but available in all
trendy and bright colours.
After being finally motorised
again we piloted our first river
which was the Klong Than
Mayon with a waterfall of the
same name. A sign board guided
us to the entry of the waterfall.
Such natural wonders are commercialized in this region so that
we had to pay 200 Baht as entry
fee. The rangers of the national
park eyed us mistrustfully,
because the one or other net
looked out of our luggage. The
route to the waterfall partially
goes past the river bank, but
larger sections lead us directly
over the slick and slippery stones
of the river bed which – now in
18
the dry season – reminded us
of a small stream. Yet now we
discovered quickly swimming
barbs in the clear water and
calmly resting blue glimmering
snakeheads lying in wait. When
we arrived at the waterfall, we
only wanted to take a bath in
the river. Armed with trunks,
net, snorkel and diving goggles
we went into the cool wet. In the
tropes even 30 degrees warm
water feels quite cool. We dove
into a big aquarium with shoals
of various barbs, like for example Barbus binotatus and Brachydanio albolineatus. In between
several snakeheads, Channa
gachua and Channa striata. We
could also find some common
gudgeons and half-beaked fishes
which we didn’t know before.
At last we determined the water
values and the GPS data. All captured fishes were released after
taking pictures of them.
After this refreshing bath we
returned to our scooters over
the slippery stones. We still
had enough time for a visit to
this beautiful Mangrove Forest.
According to our guidebook this
mangrove forest should be one
of the nicest in Thailand. This
beautiful bay impressed us a lot,
too. Only a few palm oil and coconut plantations were planted
amongst the mangroves. We
drove on the somewhat bumpy
road up to the end of the bay.
Here you come to the village
Baan Salak Khok which rests
on spiles in the muddy bottom
of the shore. Away from the village we had a closer look at the
beach. Here you find seashells,
but also the blossoms of the mangroves and their seeds are very
interesting. The seeds are elongate (approx. 10 – 12 cm) and
acuminate. Once they are ripe
they fall down and bore into the
soft ground. Now they are able
to sprout and to become new
plants. Not far away from the
village we found a small stream
fed by a little source. Already
with the first pull we found several fishes in the net. We could
gaze at and also take pictures of
beautifully coloured Aplocheilus
panchax, half-beaked fishes and
several common gudgeons. The
small crabs in our net obviously
lost their way from the mangrove
forest which is only a few meters
away. The water had a very high
susceptance with over 2000 m/s.
Now then we had seen enough
for the first day on Koh Chang
Island. We only felt hot and we
were whacked. However we
all agreed about enjoying this
island very much. Coming back
to the resort a jump into the cool
sea revitalised us. At a delicious
dinner with a panoramic view of
the wonderful bay, we planned
the forthcoming day. Our host
recommended to visit the south
side of the island, because it is
nearly uninhabitated and natural. We accepted this recommendation and started for the southern part of the island. Since our
resort has already been situated
very far in the south of the island
we didn’t have to drive very long
this time. The road ascended
steeply and windingly up to the
rainforest. Here and there it was
so steep that both driver and
co-driver had to strongly lean
forward so that they didn’t fall
backwards. It was amazing that
the scooters managed these gradients. The way downhill was
just as steep and winding of
course. According to the description a small path should now
branch off on the left to a calm
little bay. This bath was rather
a trail, barely to be driven by
our scooters. In such moments
you are longing for an Enduro.
Though it was worth it! A little
bay with a magnificent white
beach awaited us. There were
no people far and wide except
for one Thai checking if everything’s OK with his coconut
plantation. On the left side of the
island a small stream flowed into
the sea. Very nice mangroves
bordered its upper area. In the
stream you could watch sea
water fishes searching for food.
We were almost tempted to lie
down on the beach lazily, but
then this hunter-gatherer feeling came over us again. Didn’t
we see a streambed right there
at the upper road looking very
promising? Poor Bianca surely
would have loved to lie on the
beach. It wasn’t always easy for
her to travel with three crazy
aquarists through Thailand.
Come on! We struggled the
scooters back to road on the
trail and looked for the stream
bed which we saw when passing. The stream bed didn’t have
flowing water anymore. Only a
muddy retained residual flow
pool remained, because the road
was constructed in this section.
A dried up streambed always
offers the possibility to go into
the forest in a fairly easy manner.
You cannot get lost, you do not
need any machete and nevertheless there are a lot of things
to see and to listen to. It is amazing how many different species
of plants you can discover in a
rainforest. Unfortunately you
could only listen to the local
monkeys. Therefore we noticed
the mosquitos even more so we
first of all rubbed our bodies with
our “perfume”. After approx.
500 m we still found a few clear
residual flow pools. There we
detected two barb species and
half-beaked fishes. Furthermore we located nicely coloured
skinks and water spiders, too.
Our next destination was the
Klong Plu waterfall which was
on the west side of the island.
As the road in the south isn’t
still connected to the western
part we had no other choice as
to drive our scooters around
the island. Here the road is well
developed and so we got ahead
well. The coast road in the east
is very cliffy and narrow, the
asphalt is slippery. A scooterdriver in front of us has already
been flat on his face so that we
drove even more carefully. From
a viewing platform you could
look down to the west coast.
One hotel follows the other. At
the entrance to the waterfall it
didn’t look much better. Many
tourists cavorted between the
booths. How would it then look
like at the waterfall? With all
this hustle and bustle we lost
all interest in visiting the waterfall. We would not have been
able to search for fishes in peace
anyway. The Klong Plu directly
flows next to the parking area.
Even in the dry season it still
carries enough water, up to
2m broad and 10 – 30 cm deep.
Bernd and Pascal in the clear water of the natural aquarium
19
Channa gachua
and Channa striata
However you could clearly see
that a lot of tourists creamed
with suntan lotion took a bath
at the waterfall. But at least at
this part of the stream we were
alone. The common gudgeon
which we don’t know, loaches,
half-beak fishes and beautiful
Brachydanio albolineatus.
After this long tour we were glad
to swim still a little in the ocean.
We found many sea urchins at
the piles of the resort. After all
from now on we swam along the
piles at a bigger distance. I took
a closer look at the ladder at the
landing-stage before climbing
up. It is a pity that at this time
of the year the water is quite
turbid, so snorkeling is no big
fun. Bianca and Pascal looked
for fishes and other sea dwellers in the shallow water of the
shore. Soon Pascal presented
us a pretty pufferfish which
had ballooned itself in panic. Of
course we set him free after the
photo shooting, Unfortunately
20
the next day was already our
last on this marvellous island.
Bianca and Pascal wanted to go
the elephant track in order to
ride on the back of an elephant
across the rainforest. Bernd and
me, we started out once again to
look for fishes in other streams
and waterfalls. Since we had to
give back the scooters at the
pier of the ferry we stayed at
the east side of the island. We
discovered a small stream at
kilometre 29 which didn’t carry
so much water anymore. Along
the stream a small path led us
through coconut and caoutchouc
plantations. This stream partly
crossed a cut bamboo forest.
The streambed was wider and
the water was only up to 10 cm
deep. There were red ferrous
coagulations and a few Utricularia between the leaves on the
ground. We found the following
fishes: Barbus binotatus, another
kind of barb which we don’t
know, the pearl danio Brachydanio albolineatus, a 10 cm long
swamp-eel, half-beak fishes and
a loach species. We didn’t stay
too long as we still wanted to
visit the Kere Phet waterfall. A
small track led up to the waterfall across a nice forest. From
time to time some little areas
of banana plants appeared. We
crossed a few dried up streams
and if we hadn’t heard the rush
of the waterfall we would have
turned back in disappointment.
Bathed in sweat we arrived
at the waterfall. From aheight
of 6 m the water rushed down
into a little damed pool. The
bottom of the ground consisted
of coarse stones, some of them
were coated with blue-green
algae. From here the water very
steeply flowed in a 10 m deep
water retention. With a temperature of only 27 degrees the
water was comfortably cool and
we looked forward to a refreshing bath. Already at the first
fleeting glances we found a few
snakeheads in the water. Catching them we then noticed that
we had three generations of
Channa gachua in our photo tank.
In the damed but still very clear
pool we only found two Channa
gachua with the coloration of an
adult specimen. The little snakeheads were more numerous and
still had their juvenile colour.
Perhaps the many smaller perl
danios Brachydanio albolineatus
may serve as food Finally we still
found Schistura kohchangensis.
Normally this should have been
all for this holiday. A bit sad
we packed our fishing nets and
returned to our scooters. On the
way back to the scooter-rent we
crossed a smaller damed river
which we had already noticed
the days before. We almost had
passed by, but somehow our fingers were itching once again.
The water was clear and approx.
60 cm deep. Having diving goggles and snorkels with us we first
had a look around under water.
There were roots and branches
projected into the water from
the embankment. The sunbeams
turned the underwater world
into a bizarre play of lights and
shades. Several species of barbs
swam in between. Glass shrimps
searched for food in the roots
overgrown with algae. Snakeheads (Channa gachua) lurked
under the branches for passing
prey. Under the water surface
we could watch a Aplocheilus
panchax.
Small common gudgeons sat
between the coarse stones. At
a smaller pool near the river
a Thai gathered a few marsh
plants which were consumed
as vegetables in Thailand. Curiously he watched us trying to
fish in the river. When he came
nearer Bernd showed him some
Bernd in his element – fishing
photos of Betta splendens, Betta
imbellis and Betta smaragdina.
Hard to believe what he always
brings with him! The Thai gave
us to understand that this kind
of fish exists in this river, too.
He snatched my fishing net
as well as the photo tank and
searched now for fishes near
the bank. Bernd and me, we
dumbfoundedly looked at each
other. Should there yet be any
Betta on Koh Chang? But as our
fisherman came back again we
could admire very nice coloured
Aplocheilus. Well-behaved we
expressed our thanks, took a few
pictures and set the fishes free
again as soon as the Thai had
gone away. But now it was really
all up with fishing. We gave back
the scooters and took the bail.
Then we waited one hour till one
of the few group taxis passed by.
You are stuck without scooter or
car on the east side of the island.
The taxi drivers earn more money
on the west side and for Thai
conditions taxis are quite expensive on Koh Chang. With a little
melancholy we packed our rucksacks, because this was not only
the end of our stay on this island,
but also the end of our holidays.
The island Koh Chang is worth a
visit, although we haven’t found
any other labyrinth fishes than
Channa gachua and Channa
striata. It is to be hoped that
this island will not be victim of
the building boom and that the
national park can be furthermore
protected from clearing and other
destructions. The return journey
to Bangkok passed without any
bigger problems this time, even
the bus arrived without trouble
in Bangkok
21
A tribute to the 200th anniversary of
Charles Darwin
Von Jörg Töpfer
Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882)
Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus
Darwin (1731–1802) – Doctor, botanist und author of „Zoonomia“
Robert Waring Darwin (1766–
1848) – Darwin’s father, also
doctor (both photos: Baumunck &
Rieß 1994)
Darwin was the first evolutionary biologist and originator of the
concept of natural selection. With
his main work Origin of Species
by Means of Natural Selection
(1859) he ushered in a new epoch
of biology. His work was heavily
attacked, but equally vigorously
defended – and it seems that it is
still like this today.
Charles Robert Darwin was born
in Shrewsbury, Middle England,
on February 12, 1809. He was the
fifth of six children. His father was
a doctor and his mother was the
daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, a
well-known and successful manufacturer of pottery. The young
Charles wasn’t especially conspicuous at school. He should become
a doctor like his grandfather and
father after school. At his father’s
request he first studied medicine
at the University of Edinburgh in
1825. However he quickly realized
that he cannot decide on a medical career. So he gave up his studies in 1827 and changed to Cambridge in 1828 in order to study
theology
During his time in Cambridge,
Darwin and the professor of phytology John Stevens Henslow
(1796 – 1861) became friends. Darwin’s interest in phytology, zoology and geography/geology grew.
He also attended the lectures of
geology of professor Adam Sedgwick (1785 – 1873)
Shortly after a trip to Wales with
Sedgwick in 1831 he received
– due to the efforts of professor
Henslow – an invitation to participate in a longer journey to the
southern hemisphere of the earth
on board of the Beagle. After his
father gave up his initial resist-
22
ance, Darwin could take part in
this journey around the world as
attendant natural scientist what
should change his whole life and
at the end would revolutionise the
biology.
The ship was re-equipped for
“scientific purposes” and Charles
Darwin went on board of the
Beagle not as an examined natural scientist but as a young man
eager to learn with plenty of
books under his arms. The voyage
of the Beagle lasted five years
(1831 – 1836). First of all the South
American coast was surveyed,
so Darwin had the opportunity
to make extended trips across
South America. Finally he visited the Galapagos Islands and
then Australia. Aboard the ship
Darwin worked as geologist, botanist, zoologist and as man of science in general. Darwin was very
impressed by the enormous diversity of the “living” nature in South
America and mainly by the tropical
rainforest as well as by the geological correlation between living
and fossil life-forms. The decisive
impulse for revealing the one and
only of all secrets – the origin of
the species – was certainly the
reading of Charles Lyell’s (1797 –
1875) Principles of geology and its
propangandized actualism.
After this journey around the
world Darwin lived in London
where he published the results of
his research, for some time. He had
patiently started to collect all sorts
of facts which might have been in
correlation with the transmutation
of species. After five years working he allowed himself to record
the first notes to this item. Already
in October 1838 – fifteen months
after he had begun his systematic
John Stevens Henslow
Adam Sedgwick
Charles Lyell
examinations with regard to the
transmutation – he read Malthus’
theory of population (Thomas
Malthus, 1792 – 1882) and the
struggle for existence. His own
observations regarding animals
and plants stating that rather
favourable variations survive and
unfavourable ones will be exterminated, coincide with Malthus’
statements about the survival
of the most efficient. The result
of such a selection would be the
origin of a new species. With this
theory Darwin could finally work.
The question of how this process
occurs was most important for
Darwin. This was the question
he had been working on for more
than 20 years.
As assiduously as he collected the
arguments in favour of the transmutation of the species, just as
carefully he considered the pros
and cons of a marriage. Despite
all doubts, the conviction that a
marriage is to be judged positively – “there are many happy
slaves, too” - finally overuled.
He married his nine month older
cousin Emma Wedgwood at the
end of January 1939. Since 1842
the Darwin family had lived in the
farmhouse Down House. Charles
collected more and more facts to
confirm his idea of the theory of
transmutation. Maybe his opus
would have never been published
unless Alfred Russel Wallace (1823
– 1913) didn’t draw the same conclusion as he himself. Now it was
necessary to publicize as quickly
as possible his own scientific
results. Therefore he hurried the
writing of “On the Origin of Species”. In 1859 Darwin’s essay On
the Origin of Species was published and sold out on the same
day. In his main essay he explains
his theory of the transmutation
which – simply said – goes by natural selection by means of a multiplicity of examples.
Julian Huxley (1887 – 1975) judged
Thomas Robert Malthus
Alfred Russel Wallace
Charles Darwin, at the age of 50
23
Darwin discovered a law just as
surely as Copernicus. Galileo and
Newton discovered laws: so life
has come into being and exists
and is depended on the force of
natural selection. One need not
necessarily understand the why
or the how of it, but a natural law
such as gravitation or selection
nonetheless exists, whether a
particular puny human being, or
group of them believe it or not.
subjects. For this purpose Darwin
made numerous experiments
and he was supported by his son
Francis. Charles Darwin died in
Down House on April 19, 1882 and
was then buried in Westminster
Abbey.
Photos from the internet (Wikipedia) unless other notice
Literature
The theory of evolution is no longer
just a theory: an overwhelming
amount evidence has accumulated
since Darwin. Darwin’s theory has
never been successfully refuted.
His essay was categorically
refuted especially on the part of
the church, but it also met enthusiastic approval. The two men
who vehemently supported the
theory of evolution were Thomas
Henry Huxley (1825 – 1895) in
England and Ernst Haeckel (1834
– 1919) in Germany. Darwin kept
himself out of the discussions as
far as possible. Only in the year
of 1871 his book “The Descent of
Man, and Selection in Relation to
Sex” appeared. Darwin explained
what had already been discussed
to a large extent and what Huxley
(1863) had already supported on
public: The affinity of the human
beings to the monkeys having the
same ancestors. Darwin’s assumption that the humans developed
in Africa, would be proved as
right later. During his last decade
Darwin concentrated on the publication of essays about botanical
An enormous number of books
and articles about Darwin and his
theory of evolution has been published. Here you only find a very
small selection:
Baumunk, B.-M. & Riess, J. 1994.
Darwin und der Darwinismus.
Berlin.
Clark, R.W. 1990. Charles Darwin
Biographie eines Mannes und
einer Idee. Frankfurt am Main.
Desmond, A. & Moore, J. 1995.
Darwin. München Leipzig.
Heberer, G. 1959. Charles Darwin
Sein Leben und sein Werk. Stuttgart.
Steinmüller, A. & Steinmüller K.
1985. Charles Darwin Vom Käfersammler
zum
Naturforscher.
Berlin.
Zirnstein, G. 1982. Charles Darwin.
Biographien
hervorragender
Naturwissenschaftler, Techniker
und Mediziner, Band 13. Leipzig
Thomas Henry Huxley
Ernst Haeckel
Charles Darwin at an advanced age
Emma, Darwin’s wife
his theory: „ … is he most powerful and the most comprehensive
idea that has ever arisen on earth.
It helps us understand our origins
… We are part of a total process
made of the same matter and
operating by the same energy as
the rest of the cosmos, maintaining and reproducing by the same
type of mechanism as the rest of
life …” (Sir Julian Huxley)
24
IGL
INTERNAL
Convention
of the international anabatoids association
from October 2 – 5, 2008 in Deggendorf-Natternberg/Bavaria
Text by Hans-Jürgen Ende, Fotos by Uwe Konrad
After four years of abstinence
I had the wish to participate in
a convention of the IGL again.
Since Bavaria has got a beautiful
landscape, nice people as well as
a good beer and food I decided
to go to the autumnal convention
in Natternberg. The only problem was how to come from the
train station in Plattling to Natternberg. A conversation with
the organizer Dr. Jürgen Schmidt
made it clear some weeks before.
I was picked up there. At the station Jürgen and Bruno Urbanski
were waiting for me, my luggage
was loaded and here we go. On
the way they still posted a few
signboards to the place of convention and soon we arrived at
the hotel. Before checking in I
could already say hello to some
known and unknown members
of the IGL. As we know, in the
IGL you don’t have a lot of time
for idleness. Already at the very
first evening Jürgen Schmidt
gave us a lecture about “Animals and nature in the Bavarian
forest”. 45 minutes were scheduled for this report. He guided
us across the Bavarian forest up
to a height of 1256 m, where it
might be snowing at the beginning of October. He showed us
the different kinds of lizards and
snakes which are living there.
The common wall lizard (near
passau) could be descended from
a colony being released in 1932.
Aesculapian snake, ring snake,
terrapin, bats and otter are comparatively often to find. However
adders are rarely to be found. Further he led us to two lakes which
are called in German “Grosser
Arbersee” and “Kleiner Arbersee” where even beavers live in
the meantime. But he couldn’t
tell us, if those are European or
(more probably) American beavers being also released. Then
he showed us photos from wood
grouses, lynxes and wolves for
which it is hard to survive in this
region. The suspicion of poaching subliminally arose, because
huntsmen fear a competition in
hunting deers. A severe infestation of bark beetles had not been
25
Dr. Jürgen Schmidt, – here during
the appreciation for Dietrich
Schaller – organized the convention in Deggendorf in an exemplary manner. A big thank you
to him and his parents who supported him.
removed in the middle of the
Bavarian forest years ago. The
mouldering old trees were a good
compost and the young stands
of trees could grow well. Due to
the discussions during the lecture the meeting took nearly two
hours what shows that aquarists
are not too narrow-minded.
The scheduled meeting of the
literature team was postponed
because of the advanced time.
A trip by bus was planned for
October 3. At first we went to
the Giga zoo in Grafling. There
is a pet shop with veterinary
practice and dog training school.
The shop has got a freshwater department with about 100
fish tanks, approx. 20,000 fishes
(www.GIGA-ZOO.de), a seawater department with a bigger
offer of corals and fishes, a terrarium department, small domestic
mammals as well as of course a
big offer of accessories à la couleur. In front of the building there
was a fish tank at the size of
approx. 300 x 150 x 80 m (3,600
litres) taken over after being
repaired. The new front pane is
supposed to cost 500 euros. Then
we went to the fishery farm Lindbergmühle where apprentices
are trained and which is exemplary in Lower Bavaria. There
the foreman Florian Baierl was
already been waiting for us. First
he showed us the teaching room
and he explained us the responsibilities of the institute. The
institute was built in 1982 and
rebuilt as well as extended in
1990/91. Four staff members and
currently two apprentices are
Florian Baierl during his first explanations
26
employed. The whole building
is about 7 hectares (= more than
90 soccer fields). The required
water quantity is approx. 210 l/
sec.
On this farm they do researches
on the fishes in the Danube. Also
they put young fishes at the
disposal of commercial fishing
plants. Inside spawners and milters are stripped, the products
mixed and only then put back
into the water. The previous mixture is necessary, because the
sperm is only alive in water for
40 seconds. The spawn hatches
in approx. 40 long fish tanks (several 100,000 young fishes each)
and grows up outside later. There
are also trial pools for research
purposes, special Taimen tanks
and spawn fish tanks.
From there we went to Florian
Baierl’s home. As a sideline he
has got an import and retail firm
named “amazon-fisch” (www.
amazon-fisch.de). As he intended
to go on holiday a few hours
after our visit the fish tanks were
barely filled and new imports
a long time ago. Although one
could see a high quality standard with regard to the available
fishes as well as very clean tanks.
The standard assortment goes
from cichlids, catfishes, discus,
skates, angel fish, characins to
barbs, common gudgeons and
live-bearers. He even offered
arowanas, too. Behind the house
there was a big pool with goldfishes as well as an enclosure
for turtles where you could also
find young ones. Of course these
young turtles had already been
in the heated house at that time
of the year. Afterwards we were
still invited to have some coffee
and cake in the heated garage.
Then we returned to the hotel.
In the evening the literature
team met with five participants.
The intention of this team is to
collect all articles about labyrinth fishes which have been
written and published by now
in pdf-format and to make them
available to the members of the
IGL as a working basis. Later the
complete international literature
about labyrinth fishes ought to
be listed whereas the number of
already publicized books is limited.
A visit of the zoo in Straubing
was planned for Saturday morning. This zoo was built in 1937/38.
We were of course interested in
the Danubium. Danubium is the
Latin expression for Donau. A
guided tour was booked for us.
Since we arrived a bit too early
we waited in the Tropicarium.
A South American tank with
discus, angels, characins and
catfishes struck our eyes at first.
It really was the whole glory of
tropical tanks. There were spacious terrariums stocked with
lace monitors, wedge-headed
dwarf caiman, dumeril’s boas,
green iguanas, green basilisk lizards, green water dragons, sailfin lizards, uromastyxes, turtles,
bearded dragons, frill-necked
lizards, Madagascar day geckos,
Burmese pythons and veiled
chameleons. One highlight in
this house was an enclosure
without lattice or pane where
cotton-top tamarins and trumpeter hornbills live. At first I only
saw a little monkey sitting on a
wall in the visitor’s passage. I
naturally immediately thought of
a breakout, but I was mistaken
(see above).
In the meantime our guide had
arrived. He led us to the Danubium, but with a wide berth
across the zoo. We passed Bruno’s relatives, the brown bears,
a big pool with pink pelicans (the
throat sac of an adult male has
got a capacity of approx. 14 l of
water) and sea ravens, bactrian
camels with young, yaks, Indian
lions from the Gir reservation in
India (I saw Indian lions for the
first time), African penguins and
the chimpanzee house. Finally
we arrived at the Danube tank.
Here they only look after fishes
which live or lived in the river
Danube. We were welcomed by
a big sheatfish. In further tanks
rudd, pike, taimens, sturgeons,
Russian
sturgeons,
sterlets,
carp, three-spined sticklebacks,
bitterlings, zingels, strebers,
sunfishes, clicker barbs, brown
trouts, grey knight gobys and
loaches swam. They have big
problems with the taimens,
because they are mavericks and
constantly reduce themselves
in the fish tanks even so over a
longer period. It doesn’t help to
put young fishes together and to
let them grow up together. We
could also have a look behind the
scenes and inspect the big filter
system. Terrariums with dice,
ring and aesculapian snakes are
outside of the Danubium. You
could see jewelled lizards and
sand lizards as well as different
sorts of turtles, frogs toads and
fire salamanders.
Alternatively you could visit a
nursery for orchids. This possibility was mainly taken by the
ladies and at least they spent a
lot of money there.
Herewith the excursions were
finished.
Exactly at 2 pm the convention
was opened! The first item on
the agenda was an extraordinary
meeting of the members. The
only item was the nomination of
two honorary members. Dietrich
Schaller for whom Dr. Jürgen
Schmidt delivered the appreciation speech, and Norbert Neugebauer, the former chairman of
the IGL whose appreciation was
made by Martin Hallmann. Both
honours were approved by one
resp. two abstentions.
Afterwards the programme of
the lecture began. Hans Esterbauer, a consultant from Steyr,
Austria, continued with a general overview about “Labyrinth
fishes and relative species”.
First he explained the respiratory organ, the labyrinth, then
he considered the development
of these fishes since the tertiary
60 – 50 million years ago and he
commented on the distribution in
Southern Africa and South Asia.
Subsequently he talked about
the three families of anabantoids
and bushfishes, kissing gouramis
and trichogasters. Further he
Hans Esterbauer, Steyr (Austria)
during his lecture
spoke about the charge and the
breeding of the fishes, the care
of the brood, say free breeders,
bubblenest breeders and mouth
breeders, before continuing with
the particular species. He began
with the macropodus, then he
talked about croaking gouramis,
pseudosphromenuses, gouramis,
belontiens, bushfishes, bubblenest and mouth breeding betta,
parosphromenuses,
malpuluttas, anabases, helostomas, sandelias, ctenopomas and chan-
Jens Kühne reported about mouth
breeding bettas from southern
Thailand.
27
Andreas Hartl and the problem
with the beamer
nas. On late Friday evening he
learnt of the recommendation
that the species Colisa and Trichogaster were renamed. So he
changed the names in his documents in the same night. Colisa
is now called Trichogaster, the
old Trichogaster is now called
Trichopodus. T. fasciatus had
first been described as Trichogaster. Therefore the former colisas are now called Trichogaster
fasciata, T. lalius, T. labiosa, T.
bejeus and T. chuna. The former
Trichogaster are now called Trichopodus trichopterus, T. leerii,
T. microlepis and T. pectoralis.
The second lecture was held
by Jens Kühne from Nakhon si
Thamarat, Thailand, an excellent expert on Thailand, over
“The mouth breeding Betta from
southern Thailand”. He conducts
a travel agency with his Thai
partner (www.mahachai-tours.
com). He found the mouth breeding Betta of the Betta fusca, B.
pulchra, B. pugnax and B. ferox
groups along the three mountain
ranges of southern Thailand. He
showed the various betas and
biotopes as well as bycatches of
catfishes, garras and hillstream
loaches.
The third speaker of the day was
professor P. Finke from Bielefeld,
the vice-president of the IGL. He
spoke about “Three years for the
paros. Licorice gourami – aquaristics against the extinction”. Then
the fish exchange started from
where I took some fishes with me
to Halle-Dessau. A big tombola
had also been arranged, one lot
for one euro, every lot won. The
prizes were fish tanks, equipment, books, food, travelling bags
and more.
In the evening the ‘cotrips’ team
met (colisa/trichogaster which
have to be renamed now, but we
keep the tradition, and trichopsis).
The teamleader Karl-Heinz Rossmann stated that all species are on
stock in IGL, but not steady. The
big and small croaking gouramis
are endangered. Furthermore we
talked about future topics. Therefore we decided to collect the
local names for our fishes so that
it is easier for tourists to explain
natives what they are looking for.
This meeting should have ended
early at 3:30 am. I had already
said goodbye four hours earlier.
The Sunday began - as you
already know it from other lectures – with beamers. For one
hour four laptops and four beamers had been put together before
two of them were compatible. In
the meantime Jörg Töpfer invited
us for the next convention which
will take place in Riesa April 30 –
May 3, 2009. The we could finally
start.
Andreas Hartl continued the
series of lectures. His topic was
“Salmonides, fascinating tank
fishes”. He rebuilt his garage
to a tank room so that the temperatures do not go up so high.
Yes, whoever wants to keep
and breed native fishes, has got
problems. He installed a daylight
switch to simulate the longer or
shorter duration of the sunshine
in the nature. At the beginning
he showed bitterlings spawning as well as sticklebacks, lampreys and strebers. Arctic char
lake trouts and brook trouts
28
were used by fishermen in order
to achieve better results. Chars
were brought in approx. 130 years
ago. They superseded the brown
trout and therefore the pearl
mussel, too, since their larvae
need the brown trout because
they settle in their gills. Additionally tiger trout occur which
are crossings between brown
trout and brook trout. However
these natural hybrids are infertile. Rainbow trout are superseding brown trouts. Depending on
the region of origin brown trouts
have got various colourings –
sometimes less and sometimes
many dots in different colours.
Lake trout have got black dots
and they are bigger than brown
trouts. The huchen mainly come
from breeding farms. The salmon
which have been brought in,
spawn, but young fishes couldn’t
be found yet. Altogether a great
lecture with exceptional photos
from the spawning of the different species to the growing up of
the fry.
Jacob Geck from Puchheim lectured about “Modifications and
re-descriptions of the Asian
families: anabanditiidae, badidae and channidae”. For each
fish he had arranged a panel
with name, describer, location,
abstract, total and lateral length,
photo and map of the habitat. All
in all he presented 73 fishes as
re-description during the period
of 1994 – 2007 respectively reimports or revisions. Whoever
wants to know more can get an
abstract from me. An industrious piece of work, but after the
hour we lost at the beginning
it was a little long-winded, particularly some listeners still had
a long journey back home. At
11:50 am Dr. Schmidt closed the
convention. The Schmidt family
brought me to the train station
in Plattling. Herefore I would like
to thank them and Bruno once
again very much.
Invitation to the general assembly
in Riesa on May 3, 2009
Dear friends,
Herewith we would like to invite all members of the IGL to the general assembly in Riesa.
Agenda of the general assembly in Riesa on May 3, 2009
10:30 am I. Opening and honorary members
Welcome and opening (10:30)
Definition of the agenda (10:35)
Nomination of honorary members (10:35 – 11:05)
(5 minutes break)
11:10 am II. Formalities and elections
Acceptance of the minutes of the last general assembly (printed in the journal “Makropoden”) (11:10)
Report of the chairman about the last year (11:10)
Report of the cashier (incomings/outcomings, number of members) (11:20)
Report of the cash auditor and approval of the actions of the chairmanship (11:30)
Discussions and voting about approval of the actions (11:30)
Election of a election supervisor (11:35)
Elections:
a) chairman (candidates, presentation, ballot) (11:35)
b) two vice-presidents (11:45)
c) general manager (11:50)
d) cashier (11:51)
e)
fish supervisor (11:52)
f) editorial journalist (11:53)
g) webmaster (11:54)
h) assessor, with presentations (11:55 – 12:15)
i)
cash auditor (12:20)
(5 minutes break)
12:25 pm III Applications and debate
Applications (12:25)
General debate (12:30)
Miscellaneous (12:40)
Closing words of the chairman (12:45)
End of the convention at 12:50 pm (afterwards short meeting of the new chairmanship: conventions
gleanings, decision on responsibilities, agenda, distribution of responsibilities)
The exact time serves as guideline for a concentrated order of events!
Auke de Jong
Chairman
29
Regional group Kölner Bucht (bay of Cologne), a little review of the year
By Michael Scharfenberg
The young regional group of
the Kölner Bucht has finished
another successful year. The
interesting program of the lecture was well accepted, and
except for one meeting the
club house had always been
packed to capacity. The lecture
by Pascal Antler about the species of Channa was very interesting and Bernd Keiler could
also tell us many news about
bichirs. Especially the barbecue of the labyrinth fish group
was very nice as always and
even the weather was fine although it wasn’t that easy to
find a weekend without rain in
this summer. The grill worked
full speed and the beer flowed
abundantly. A nice lecture by
Martin Hallmann about the
little red bettas completed the
evening successfully. We discussed about our great hobby
until the early morning. As I
left the party room with the
guests of the regional group
Rhine-Main-Neckar it already
dawned. For the meeting in
September Karl-Heinz Rossmann from Heidelberg was
invited as speaker. He is engaged in Badis badis since many
years. So we learnt that actually 16 known bluefish species
are split into the species Badis
and Dario. He could tell us a lot
about the individual kinds and
their acting. A lot of questions
about this interesting species
which is rather unknown, were
answered on that evening. The
program was completed by a
lecture by Johannes Graf about
food breeding in November. I
can yet say that we will have
an fantastic program next year,
too. Finally I would like to thank
the IGL regional group RhineMain-Neckar. I have mercilessly
taken advantage of the good
and friendly connections to this
regional group in inviting three
excellent speakers, namely
Martin Hallmann, Bernd Keiler
and Karl-Heinz Rossmann. In
the name of the regional group
Kölner Bucht I thank you very
much for these interesting lectures. And I promise you, at the
next barbecue you three will
get the Kölsch in big glasses.
At the barbecue
(photo: M. Scharfenberg)
30
Program 2009
of the IGL regional group Bavaria
and the DKG regional group Munich
10.01.2009 “Fish excursion to the river Congo - 2008“
DKG lecture by Andreas Dunz, (postponed for one week by reason of holiday)
1.1.2009
“Fishing journey DRCH 2008, Nothobranchius from the Congo“,
DKG lecture by Holger Hengstler
1.1.2009
“Old and new facts about the Aphyosemion elegans group“,
DKG lecture by Steffen Fick
04.04.2009 “The Killi year in 2008 – on visit to several exhibitions“
02.05.2009 “Makropodus from the Hai-Van-Pass“,
IGL lecture by Jens Kühne
1.1.2009
“My personal experiences with killi fishes“,
DKG lecture by Karl-Heinz Genzel
04.07.2009 “Fishes in the aquarium and nature protection “,
IGL lecture by Dr. Jürgen Schmitdt
1.1.2009
“Reorganization of the rachovii forms from southern Africa“,
1.1.2009
“Guinea 97, Epiplatys, Callopanchax and Scriptaphyosemion“,
DKG lecture by Wilhelm Kugelmann (postponed for one week by reason of holiday)
1.1.2009
“Fishes from Central China“,
IGL lecture by Philipp Dickmann
Where:The events will take place at the “Bürgerhaus” Emmering, Lauscherwörth 5, D-82275 Emmering
near Fürstenfeldbruck
When: The meeting will start at 14:00 pm and the lecture at 14:30 pm
Visitors are cordially invited to the meeting. Free entry!
INFORMATION:
INFORMATION :
Chairman regional group DKG
Chairman regional group IGL
Steffen Fick
Dieter Dahms
Bebo-Wager-Str. 10
Tannenhofstr. 2
D-86157 Augsburg
D-85540 Haar
Tel: 0821 / 44 911 96 Handy: 0176 / 28 75 26 28
Tel: 089 / 46 68 42
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
31
Regional group Rhine-Main-Neckar
Program of the year 2009
07. 02. 2009
Harald Hehl: “In the land of Malpulutta“
Harald Hehl who, as former cashier, has got enough time now for the really important things is going to tell
us a few things about his many journeys to Sri Lanka
04. 04. 2009
Achim Held: “Shrimps in the fish tank“
Since it didn’t work last year, Achim is going to let it crawl this time.
06. 06. 2009
Harald Divossen: News from tapir, tinctorius and co.“
Once again Harald was in Surinam and who still doesn’t know what a tinctorius is has now the chance to
learn it.
01. 08. 2009
The regional group’s barbecue will take place. Where? At Charly Roßmann’s, Kleingemünder Straße 44,
D-69118 Heidelberg. When? From 15:00 pm onwards.
You have to bring your own food with you. Drinks can be bought (proceeds are destinated for the cashbox
of the regional group). You are kindly asked to announce your participation beforehand!
25. – 27. 09. 2009
Autumnal convention in Weinheim-Oberflockenbach, Gasthaus zur Rose
05. 12. 2009
Karl-Heinz Roßmann: “Pooling, not only because of the fishes“
For pooling Charly had not only taken net and bucket along with him, but also camera and photo cuvette.
Program of the regional group southwest for 2009
Saturday, January 17 at 15:00 pm
Thomas Weiblen: “From wild betta to the modern fighting fish“
Saturday, March 21 at 15:00 pm
Uta Hanel: “V tanks – how it works and what is possible“
Saturday, May 16 at 15:00 pm
Dr. Thomas Seehaus: “The development of the brood care of labyrinth fishes“
Saturday, July 18 from 16:00 pm onwards
Barbecue – detailed information to follow
Saturday, September 19 at 15:00 pm
Michael Scharfenberg: “Live food“
Saturday, November 21 at 15:00 pm
Peter Menger: “Impressions of a journey to Borneo & Malaysia“
We meet in the Ewald-Steinle-Haus (directly behind the petting zoo) in the wildlife park of Pforzheim.
Address for navigation system: Tiefenbronnerstrasse 100
We offer soft drinks, coffee, cakes, pretzels, etc.! Visitors are of course very welcome at any time!
In case of any questions please contact Anke Binzenhöfer. [email protected], Telephone: 0049-(0)7044-920220
32
International Channidae meeting in Meppel/Netherlands from November 20–22, 2009
The channa team of the IGL organizes
an international channidae meeting
together with the Snakeheads (UK).
The place of the meeting will be
Meppel in the Netherlands which will
also be well within reach for in channa
interested parties coming from Great
Britain.
The location for this meeting can be
found under www.meppelsinn.nl.
Hotel accommodations have already
been booked. A deposit of 50,00 EUR
is stipulated so that the reservation
can be confirmed. The costs for one
night incl. breakfast and lunch are
28,50 EUR / person on the basis of 4
persons per room. A double room is
possible for an extra charge of 5,00
EUR / person.
Interested persons please send an
e-mail to Auke de Jong : pugnax@
home.nl. A confirmation with remittance details is to follow.
The program of the meeting hasn’t
been finished yet.
The prelimanary schedule for the IGLSnakeadsUK meeting 20-22 November
20-22, 2009, Meppel, The Netherlands
is as follows:
Friday
Arival
Presentation/talk
Communal evening
Saturday
Breakfast
Leaving for a Shop Tour ( this could
last all day if you like)
Possible a presentation/talk before
the evening meal
Evening meal aprox 7pm
Presentation
Another presentation if time permits
Socialising and talking about channa
Sunday
Breakfast
Presentation/talk
Presentation/talk
Socialising
Departure at you own leisure
We feel that a too tight schedule is not
in our interest
We are looking to have a maximum
of five 1,5hr presentations and one
shorter presentation. There will be a
Fish sale as well.
IMPRINT
Präsidium
Präsident
Auke de Jong
De Hooge Campen 11
7943 HV Meppel
Niederlande – Nederland
Tel. +31 (0)522260166
E-Mail: [email protected]
Vizepräsidenten
Michel Dantec
35 rue André‚ Malraux
41000 Blois
Frankreich – France
Tel. +33 (0)254432863
= Redaktion: Le Macropode
CIL = http://cil.france.free.fr/index.html
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Finke
Telgenbrink 79
33739 Bielefeld
Deutschland – Germany
Tel. +49 (0)5206-1466
Fax: +49 (0)5206-2838
Geschäftsführer
Bernd Bussler
Joachim-Mähl-Strasse 15
22459 Hamburg
Tel. +49 (0)40-584703
Fax: +49 (0)40-54007517
Kassier
Guido Kox
Jahnstrasse 52
58849 Herscheid
Tel. +49 (0)2357-3853
Mobil: +49 (0)171-8534260
Webmaster
Anja Stoffer
Hahnenstrasse 33
50354 Hürth
Tel. +49 (0)1520-1839706
Fischwart
Dr. Thomas Seehaus
Obere Gartenstrasse 3
64646 Heppenheim
Tel. +49 (0)6252-6448
Fax: +49 (0)69-31062627
Regionalgruppen
Redakteur
Jörg Töpfer
Hospitalweg 2 a
01589 Riesa
Tel. +49 (0)3525-630803
Fax: +49 (0)351-8336350
Webmaster
Christian Kanele
Brunngasse 3
8708 Männedorf
Schweiz – Suisse
Tel.
Bayern
Dieter Dahms
Tannenhofstrasse 2
85540 Haar
Tel. +49 (0)89-466842
Bayerwald
Dr. Jürgen Schmidt
Bühlfelderweg 10
94239 Ruhmannsfelden
Tel. +49 (0)9929-903393
Email: [email protected]
= Redaktion: Orchideenzauber, Aquarium Live
Tel. +49 (0)9929-726000
www.orchideenzauber.eu
Belgien
Christian Eurlings
Sint Sebastiaan Straat 2
2260 Westerlo
Belgien – België
Tel. +32 (0)14-548894
33
Berlin
Marcus Ebert
Ortolfstrasse 44
12524 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)179-1696075
Rhein-Main-Neckar
Karl-Heinz Rossmann
Kleingemünder Strasse 44
69118 Heidelberg
Tel. +49 (0)6221-801939
Cottbus
Holm Arndt
Kunersdorfer Strasse 24
03099 Kolkwitz-Dahlitz
Tel. +49 (0)355-287864
E-Mail:
Südwest
Anke Binzenhöfer
Wimsheimerstrasse 25-1
71297 Mönsheim
Tel. +49 (0)7044-920220
Franken
Martin Döring
Schwedengarten 8
90411 Nürnberg
Tel. +49 (0)911-5401131
Waterkant
Bernd Bussler, siehe Geschäftsführer
Kölner Bucht
Anja Stoffer, siehe Webmaster
Niederlande
Robbert Zuijdam
Waterradmolen 47
1703 PB Heerhugowaard
Niederlande – Nederland
Tel. +31 (0)653489395
Niedersachsen
Andrea Rähr
Brandenburgerstrasse 7 a
30855 Langenhagen
Tel. +49 (0)511-738344
Nordostschweiz
Alfred Waser
Goldregenweg 8
8400 Winterthur
Schweiz – Suisse
Tel: +41 (0)52222883
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Pascal Antler
Steeler Strasse 64
46047 Oberhausen
Tel. +49 (0)208-8690703
Mobil: +49 (0)175-5577422
Österreich
Bettina Seidl
Grillparzerstrasse 16
4300 St. Valentin
Österreich – Austria
Tel.
Regio Basiliensis
Achim Held
Lindenstrasse 42
79639 Grenzach-Wylen
Tel. +49 (0)7624-8382
Flösselaal, Flösselhechte, Lungenfische
Jörg Töpfer, siehe Redakteur
Nanderbarsche
Rudolf Rucks
Oppendorfer Weg 26 a
24149 Kiel
Tel. +49 (0)431-203996
Medienstelle / Diaverkauf
Guido Kox, siehe Kassierer
Impressum
Der Makropode© ist die offizielle Vereinszeitschrift der Internationalen Gemeinschaft für
Labyrinthfische (IGL) mit Sitz in 58762 Altena
(Deutschland – Germany). Die Zeitschrift
erscheint im Selbstverlag der Gemeinschaft
4 x jährlich. Der Bezugspreis ist im IGL-Mitgliedsbeitrag enthalten.
CIL-France
Michel Dantec, siehe Vizepräsident
Arbeitsgruppen
Anabas, Buschfische
Jürgen Schmidt
Schulstrasse 18
02943 Weißwasser
Tel. +49 (0)3576-205100
Redaktionsbeirat: Ralf Britz, Robert
Donoso-Büchner, Stefan Inselmann, Michael
Kokoscha, Anton Lamboj, Hans-Joachim
Paepke, Jürgen Schmidt, Kai-Erik Witte.
Betta AG
Michael Scharfenberg
Alte Strasse 236
50226 Frechen
Tel. +49 (0)2234-53154
Email: [email protected]
Cotrips: Colisa, Pseudosphromenus, Trichogaster, Trichopsis
Karl-Heinz Rossmann, siehe Regionalgruppe
Rhein-Main-Neckar
Ctenops, Luciocephalus, Parasphaerichthys,
Spaerichthys
Michael Kokoscha
Kniestrasse 12
46117 Oberhausen
Tel. +49 (0)208-896436
E-Mail: Literatur AG
Bruno Urbanski
Goslarerstrasse 54
47259 Duisburg
Tel. +49 (0)203-780224
Macropodus
Dr. Thomas Seehaus, siehe Fischwart
Badis, Dario
Karl-Heinz Rossmann, siehe Arbeitsgruppe
Cotrips
34
Gestaltung und Hefterstellung der
IGL Vereinszeitschrift
Otto Tempel
Burgstrasse 33
67157 Wachenheim
Tel. +49 (0)6322-8192
Druck und Versand
Druckerei Kluge
Lange Strasse 41
01587 Riesa
Namentlich gekennzeichnete Beiträge geben
nicht unbedingt die Meinung der Redaktion
wieder. Keine Haftung für eingereichtes Redaktionsmaterial. Alle Teile dieser Zeitschrift sind
urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Art der Weiterverwertung nur mit schriftlicher Genehmigung von Redaktion und Autor (Labyrinth
[AAGB] darf Beiträge vereinbarungsgemäß
übernehmen). Wird über Pflanzen und Tiere
berichtet, deren Besitz gesetzlichen Bestimmungen unterliegt, so bestätigt der Verfasser mit der Zuwendung seiner Arbeit an die
Redaktion deren Einhaltung. Erscheinungsort
ist 01587 Riesa (Deutschland – Germany). Es
gilt das Pressegesetz des Freistaates Sachsen
in seiner jeweils aktuellen Fassung.
© IGL 2009
Bankverbindungen der IGL:
Paros AG: Parosphromenus, Malpulutta
Prof. Dr. Peter Finke, siehe Vizepräsident
Channa AG
Christian Kanele, siehe Webmaster
ISSN 0037-177X
Neue Aargauer Bank, CH-4303 Kaiseraugst,
Kto.-Nr. 782976-80,
IBAN CH75 0588 1078 2976 8000 0
Deutsche Bank AG, Filiale D-79618 Rheinfelden, BLZ 683 700 24, Kto.-Nr. 1465269 00,
IBAN: DE50 6837 0024 0146 5269 00,
BIC: DEUTDEDB683
IGL-Info im Internet: www.igl-home.de
Pseudosphromenus dayi-Female of Alleppey
Pseudosphromenus cupanus of Goa
35
Pseudosphromenus cupanus of Kovalam
36
Pseudosphromenus cupanus of Kovalam
(Foto : K.-H. Roßmann)
(Foto : K.-H. Roßmann)

30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL – 30 years IGL

Transcription

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