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COVER STORY Breeding Aphyosemion by Olaf Deters and Michael Schlüter First the bad news: Breeding Aphyosemion is the opposite of making lots of money for little effort. Anyone who wants to breed Aphyosemion must make quite a large commitment. The adults neither tend the eggs nor care for their offspring, so you don’t always get many offspring. And the breeder must constantly be on the ball—intervening, looking for eggs, and sorting out dead ones every day. Rearing the fry is work, too. It is possible to mass-produce some species, but the outcome can’t be predicted. Above: Part of a breeding setup for Aphyosemion species. AMAZONAS Right: A courting pair of Aphyosemion sp. “Oyo,” a member of the A. elegans group. O. DETERS 40
Killifish are associated with the ability to survive in bodies of water that dry up periodically. The development of the eggs extends over the dry period, and the next generation hatches with the next rainy season. The eggs can remain dormant for many months, and not all the fry hatch in the first rain; it might be not a downpour, but just a brief cloudburst. This ability is exhibited by the so-called annual killifish. Typical annual genera include the East African Nothobranchius and the South American Austrolebias and Simpsonichthys, for example. These genera unconditionally require a dry, dormant period for the eggs, as otherwise they won’t develop. But the majority of killifishes are not annual species. Their eggs develop over a predictable period of between 10 days and three or four weeks. So they don’t absolutely need to be kept in a substrate such as peat or chopped coconut hair to simulate a dry period in contact with air, but can generally also develop in water. Such species are termed “non-annual.” There are also semi-annual killifishes, whose biotopes dry up only occasionally. The eggs of these species will develop both in water and in a substrate. The eggs don’t stick to plants, so in this case, too, peat or something similar should be used as a spawning substrate. Aphyosemion are non-annual killies. The development of the eggs takes around two to three weeks, with temperature-induced variations up or down. If the upper boundary of the time window is greatly exceeded, the embryo will die while still in the egg or will be too weak to break through the eggshell completely. A pair of the recently described Aphyosemion pseudoelegans from the vicinity of Boende, Tshuapa drainage. Male Aphyosemion buytaerti BSW 99-03. Continuous spawners Aphyosemion are so-called continuous spawners. If the fishes are in good condition and in the right mood, they will lay a few eggs every day for a long period of time. The number of eggs can vary from 0 to 20. If the sexes are separated for several days beforehand, large females may produce as many as 100 or more eggs initially, but not infrequently the loss rate is very high if there are a lot of eggs. The dead eggs fungus rapidly and infect the good ones, and in the end you are left with none. For this reason it isn’t especially desirable to get a large number of eggs from a pair all at once. A prerequisite for spawning is that the fishes should be in good condition, and that is not least the result of heavy feeding. The females should be visibly full of eggs. They shouldn’t be full to bursting, but nothing can be expected from noticeably slim individuals. It is usual to offer live foods such as mosquito larvae or Cyclops. Lots of fatty foods, such as Tubifex or White Worms, will encourage egg formation. Some species will accept frozen food, as long as they are accustomed to it. It is always astonishing how rapidly the fishes react to changes and improvements in feeding. If they have M. SCHLÜTER Aphyosemion herzogi from Zomoko GBG 92-25. been fed sparingly for some time and haven’t spawned much, or at all, you will often find significantly more eggs a day or two after enriching the diet with a hefty portion of live food. Aphyosemion do not exhibit multifaceted courtship behavior like many cichlids and gouramis. Instead, they get right to the point. The male drives the female around the aquarium and, when the opportunity arises, positions himself in front of her and excitedly displays the maximum possible splendor of coloration and finnage. In some species the mouth area becomes as yellow as a bright lemon as well—a pretty impressive sight. If the female is willing to spawn, the pair press into the spawning substrate together and she lays an egg. If the female isn’t yet convinced, she is chased around the tank time and again until she changes her mind. Should AMAZONAS 41
Page 1: FRESHWATER AQUARIUMS & TROPICAL DIS
Page 4 and 5: EDITORIAL AMAZONAS Dear Reader, Fis
Page 6 and 7: AQUATIC NOTEBOOK article and image
Page 8 and 9: Type locality of Dario urops Male o
Page 10 and 11: AQUATIC NOTEBOOK Betta mahachaiensi
Page 12: AMAZONAS Habitat of Betta the Chao
Page 15 and 16: Small size and relatively peaceful
Page 17 and 18: AQUATIC NOTEBOOK Wild-type Enneacam
Page 19 and 20: 24/7 VISIT OFTEN: • Web-Special A
Page 21 and 22: The world is yours. The earth i
Page 23 and 24: The Congo, 2,717 miles (4,374 km) l
Page 25 and 26: former catch-all genus “Cichlasom
Page 27 and 28: oon. It is not unlikely that the ch
Page 29 and 30: H. OTT of the type locality will pe
Page 31 and 32: study. Ten localities are known in
Page 33 and 34: Undescribed species The western par
Page 35 and 36: COVER STORY The keeping of Aphyosem
Page 37 and 38: importance. Inland species, in part
Page 39: 0. DETERS The mystery of the locali
Page 43 and 44: (around 5 mm), they should develop
Page 45 and 46: layer of peat fiber, which should b
Page 47 and 48: (23-25°C). If it comes from forest
Page 49 and 50: AQUATIC TRAVEL In Search of the Blu
Page 51 and 52: Right: This Hypostomus sp. was caug
Page 53 and 54: At the time of my visit, the Magdal
Page 55 and 56: the Rainbow Darter AMAZONAS 55
Page 57 and 58: are collecting individually with a
Page 59 and 60: to their new surroundings, spawning
Page 61 and 62: Exclusive North American Importer &
Page 63 and 64: Right: Typical habitat of Triops in
Page 65 and 66: Aeration of the tank can be achieve
Page 67 and 68: agascar seems to have vanished from
Page 69 and 70: AMAZONAS 69
Page 71 and 72: RadionTM Sleek. Sophisticated. High
Page 73 and 74: cm) light strips would be required.
Page 75 and 76: Right: The Giant Raphael Catfish, M
Page 77 and 78: At a size of a bit over an inch (3
Page 79 and 80: “Wow!” AMAZONAS Volume 2, Numbe
Page 81 and 82: 6.0-6.5. The water temperature in t
Page 83 and 84: Successfully outwitted: a brooding
Page 85 and 86: when it comes to caves. Except at s
Page 87 and 88: AMAZONAS AMAZONAS is a sponsor of t
Page 89 and 90: Pets, Pets, Pets 2 JFK Blvd Somerse
Page 91 and 92:
Pair of Nomorhamphus rex, Vermillio
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Black-Spotted Moray, Gymnothorax po
Page 95:
Nassau County Aquarium Society Rock
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UNDERWATER EYE Hericthys labridens
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