A brand spanking new species of Hemigrammus tetra has been categorized, analyzed and described by a group of ichthyologists from Brazil. The new species makes its home in the Tocantins River drainage out in the central area of Brazil.

This tetra Hemigrammus, dubbed Hemigrammus tocantinsi, was described in the recently published issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology by Fernando Carvalho, Vinicius Bertaco, and Fernando Jerep.

What exactly sets this Hemigrammus tocantinsi apart from the other Hemigrammus tetra? Well for starters, Hemigrammus tetra has 15 to 17 anal-fin rays, horizontal stripes which narrow towards the back and get wider towards the front, as well as sporting one or two eye teeth. This new species of tetra likes to make its home in forested streams, where it lives in peaceful co-existence with Aspidoras albater, Astyanax sp., Characidium stigmosum, Corumbataia veadeiros, and Trichomycterus sp.

The Hemigrammus tocantinsi has another rather interesting thing going for it. Its dietary habits were extensively studied, and it was found that the Hemigrammus tocantinsi has a diet which consists mainly of terrestrial and aquatic insects.

If you would like more information on this very exciting topic, please see the paper: Carvalho, FR, VA Bertaco & FC Jerep (2010) Hemigrammus tocantinsi: a new species from the upper rio Tocantins basin, Central Brazil (Characiformes: Characidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 8, pp. 247–254.

Lionfish

They are poisonous, alien, and they have just been discovered (yet again) a little too close for comfort, in the Gulf of Mexico just off the shores of Southwest Florida.

Two young lionfish have been reeled in by Florida fisheries scientists this past week by two different fishing expeditions, one 99 miles from the coast, and the other 160 miles off the coast, just a tad north of the Dry Tortugas, and a little bit west of Cape Romano. This news was reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research institute in a conference.

This is the first time that lionfish have been discovered in Gulf waters north of the Tortugas and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Researchers have said that these lionfish were the product of either a spawning population on the West Florida continental shelf, or ,and everyone is hoping for this explanation, that the lionfish were carried there by ocean currents from other spawning areas.

Whatever the reason, this just might mean that the lionfish are spreading out in the eastern Gulf, scientists have cautioned.

These particular lionfish, which were measured to be in the neihborhood of 2 and a half inches long, were discovered at 183 feet and 240 feet below the seemingly calm waters of the area.

Before they were reeled in last week, lionfish had been spotted in the Tampa Bay area, Atlantic coastal waters, and even in the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas.

What makes this so interesting is that the lionfish generally makes its home in the reefs and other rocky crevices of the Indo-Pacific, explains the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Crenicichla hu

Crenicichla hu, paratypes, male (below) and female (above) (photos from publication)

Icthyologists from Argentina in conjunction with scientists from the Czech Republic have finally unveiled a new species of pike cichlid which makes its home in the Parana River drainage of Argentina.

This new cichlid was dubbed Crenicichla hu in a recently published paper in the journal Zootaxa. The lead author, Lubomir Pialek along with coauthors have distinguished this new cichlid from similar species in the area as they have a combination of dark gray or dark brown to black color body and fins, 7 to 9 black spots on their flanks, 47 to 54 scales in row E1, and the dorsal fin on the adult female species has a pattern of black and white horizontal stripes or blotches.

This new species of cichlid has formally been confirmed and recognized by a phylogenetic study which was carried out in the same paper by using the mitochondrial ND2 gene.

The cichlid was scooped up from a swiftly running, clear stream with a substrate mud, stone and sand. Its name, Crenichlia hu, comes from the Guarani word for black (hu), referring to its dark coloring.

If you would like to read more about this fascinating new cichlid, you can check out the paper by clicking the link below.
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/zt02537p046.pdf

Sabertooth salmon - Illustration by Apokryltaros

This is one of those rare occasions in which the doctors did not have to remind the patient to be completely still while they were trying to perform a CT scan. Another positive aspect was they didn’t need to worry about the specimen “flipping out” while lying inside the $900,000 wonder of modern medicine.

This sabertooth salmon, dubbed “Mr. Salmon”, was not giving any trouble at all you see, as it died some 5 million years ago.

Edward Davis, of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, came up with the name after being told that the scan would not be performed until the proper medical form was filled out. The scan was carried out at the Oregon Imaging Centers in downtown Eugene Oregon.

However, the proper scientific name of “Mr. Salmon” is Oncorhynchus rastrosus, more commonly known as the sabertooth salmon. This fish is a fanged water dweller which is about 7 feet long and made its home along the coast of the Pacific in the late Miocene age, some 5 to 24 million years ago. There are only two other such specimens, one is at the University of Michigan, and the other is at the University of California at Berkeley.

However, by performing a scan of the salmon’s head and slapping it up on the web, now researchers across the globe can study the specimen online, using a 3D rendered model for their research.

A conglomerate of Canadian and Spanish researchers have discovered new marine life, which have been previously unknown to the scientific community, and some are even over a 1,000 years old. They are hoping that these creatures will shed some light into the secrets of the ancient underwater ecosystems.

Scientists from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography in conjunction with three Canadian universities and the Fisheries Department are going on a 20 day expedition to take some photos and pick up samples of coral and sponges up to 3 kilometers deep in the cold waters off the Newfoundland coast.

The team will be studying 11 different areas which are under the protection of the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization.

These are important areas of study as they are the home to the “trees of the ocean” explains a research scientist with the Fisheries Department, Ellen Kenchington. Ellen is also leading the expedition.

The coral which can be found in these areas can be several meters tall and is sufficient enough in size to change the flow of currents. It is also the home to many other fish and other aquatic life.

The aim of the study is to see whether or not these areas need further protection from fishing to help keep the species abundant.

Ellen went on to explain that scientists can actually take a look at the chemical makeup of the coral and figure out the temperature of the water and other information dating back as far as 1,000 years!

For pictures see
http://www.montrealgazette.com

Angelshark

It has been warned that if a federal fishing ban along the east coast of Australia gets approved, then the sharks will go up in number exponentially, and the price of seafood will more than double.

This warning was issued yesterday by fishing experts and seafood industry veterans, during a firestorm of opposition to the establishment of the eight “no take” marine protection zones. These protection zones would also include a zone off of the Tweed Coast, stretching in commonwealth waters from Southern NSW to Torres Strait.

This idea was met with opposition by Paul Burt, a local fishing expert, as he warned that if fishing was banned in that particular area that more sharks would breed and head into those waters seeking the safety they offer..

“A lot of attacks that occur with sharks … occur where the marine parks are situated,” he began.
“The fish life flourishes so much that it does become an uncontrollable habitat.”[sic]

What winds up happening in these :”uncontrollable habitats” is that there will be an increase in the fish population, and this would lead to more sharks, he went on to explain.

Peter Peters, a seafood industry veteran, who also just happens to be the owner of Peter’s Fish Market located at Main Beach, has commented that imposing more limits on where commercial fishing boats can fish might make the prices of seafood skyrocket to the extent that it would be unaffordable for many ordinary Australians.

“I would say it would definitely double the price because the fishermen won’t be catching as much, their costs of traveling extra distances will go up and that will be passed on,” he explained.

Well, deliberation will continue, hopefully the outcome won’t rely solely on one side of the story…

Blue Catfish

What may be the world’s largest catfish was reeled in by Greg Bernal, from Florissant, and Janet Momphard, of St Charles.

This blue wonder, which was weighed in to be 130 pounds, beat the State record in Misouri by 27 pounds and might just outweigh the world record by 6 pounds.

This is amazing, as blue catfish generally only grow to be between 3 pounds and normally no more than 40 pounds, which suggests that the catfish dragged in had fed on his share of the food supply.

It took the couple around 15 minutes to drag the monstrous catfish toward their tiny fishing boat, kicking and screaming the whole way no doubt. It then took another 30 minutes to land the giant fish, and then only with the aid of two nets could they get the catch into their tiny fishing boat. The fish was caught in the Missouri River, close to the Columbia Bottom conservation area.

In order to catch this amazing catfish, they used a hunk of Asian Carp, which had willingly jumped into their boat, for bait.

There is still a lot of paperwork, and hemming and hawing to be done, before the catch is certified as a world record. However, the Missouri Department of Conservation has commented that there is no doubt at all, that this monstrous catfish broke the world record.

The plec, commonly known as the L134 or leopard frog plec, does no longer need to go around with its head bowed… It now has a proper scientific name! The name was given by Brazillian icthyologists.

In a recently published article in the journal Zootaxa, Renildo de Oliveira and a group of his cronies name the plec, which hails from the Tapajos River drainage, Peckoltia compta, after its bold color pattern. You see in Latin, comptus means ornamented or adorned.

Peckoltia compta stands out from like species as it sports a bold color pattern, which consists of large horizontal black bars on its body, and stout vertical bars on its snout and head. It also has a flashy line inside each of these dashing stripes which run from the tip of the snout, to under the eyes.

It also sets itself apart in the following ways; it has tiny dark brown polka dots on only the fin rays.

These plecs were snagged in clear fresh water with a moderate to high current over some rocks. You could even say, that plecs prefer their water “on the rocks”.

If you would like to learn more on this absolutely enthralling subject, check out the paper: de Oliveira, RR, J Zuanon, LR Py-Daniel & MS Rocha (2010) Peckoltia compta, a new species of catfish from the Brazilian Amazon, rio Tapajós basin (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Zootaxa 2534, pp. 48–56.

Namibia

Researchers have found a “super fish” which is actually able to not only survive, but thrive in a previously thought uninhabitable region off of Africa’s south-west coast, which also happens to be infested by jellyfish.

This “super fish” is actually helping to keep the local ecosystem going, and is single handedly helping to preserve an important fishery as well.

One of the ecosystems off the coast of Namibia, the Beguela ecosystem, was at one point is history chock full of sardines. However, overfishing of the area, and various other environmental factors have caused the population of sardines to take a nose dive, and the ecosystem became overrun with algal blooms and jellyfish swarms.

The algae has almost consumed the entire oxygen supply of the water, and the waters closer to the surface are full of jellyfish and algae.

It has been discovered that bearded gobies are making their home at the very bottom, and they are the only vertebrate to do so. The stomach contents were examined, and revealed that these bearded fish eat the dead algae which falls from the surface, and they also eat the jellyfish! This astounding discovery was made by Anne Utne-Palm, of the University of Bergen, Norway and several of her collegues.

The team of researchers also discovered that the gobies are able to survive for hours in water with extremely low oxygen levels by lowering their metabolic rate, and when they run low they pop back to the surface for more oxygen!

What a Fish!

Lionfish - A problematic invasive species that might have escaped from an aquarium in Florida to breed amd wreck havoc in the caribbean.

A paper has recently been published by Gordon Copp, Lorenzo Vilizzi, and Rodolphe Gozlan in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems which eludes to the fact that the higher the population density in England, the more likely the natural ecosystems can be tainted with pet fish.

This is not a new piece of information. It has been known for quite some time that the ecosystems which are closer to roads, fish markets and pet shops are more likely to be subjected to pet fish than those which are not close to these avenues.

The object of the study was to perform a statistical analysis to take a look at the spacial relationships between pet fish contamination and the demographics which led to these fish being released into the wild, and also to test whether or not these demographic factors are a reliable way of estimating how many alien species are introduced into these ecosystems.

The case study was carried out using an intermediate scale for all of England, dividing the country into 1500 squares of 10 square kilometers each.

The study consisted of the following data sets to be used in their analysis: non-native fresh water fish occurrences in the wild; the numbers of non-native fish imported, and demographic information such as: numbers of humans, pet shops, garden centers and fish farms per unit area.

The study found that the incidences of pet fish contamination directly co-related to the density of the human population.

If you would like to learn more check out the paper: Copp, GH, L Vilizzi and RE Gozlan (2010) The demography of introduction pathways, propagule pressure and occurrences of non-native freshwater fish in England. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 20, pp. 595–601.