THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

Habitat: Various tropical stream habitats,
including flowing and standing water. Prefer
areas of with bogwood, caves, and aquatic plants.
Appearance: Max. size: 6 cm. The smallest
loach species. Males and females similar.
The back is light brownish to light yellow
with longitudinal bands that are connected
by smaller bands across the back. Underside
is white with a silvery sheen. Adapted to
a bottom-dwelling lifestyle typical of most
loaches, this species has a downward facing
mouth and fleshy barbels for searching bottom
gravels and mud for food.
Diet: Small aquatic invertebrates and insect
larvae; algae.
Reproduction: Breeding habits in the wild
unknown.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span: ~10 years.
Conservation Status: IUCN: Critically
Endangered. Once thought to be extinct in the
wild in Thailand, but recently rediscovered.
Success in captive breeding in fish farms and
aquaria has taken some pressure off wild stocks.
Remarks: The dwarf loach is a schooling fish,
often found in large shoals.
Redtail Loach
Yasuhikotakia modesta (Cobitidae)
Loaches
Distribution: Southeast Asia: Mekong and
Chao Phraya basins.
Habitat: Most often found in large rives over
muddy substrate. Also flooded fields.
Appearance: Body bluish to grayish,
occasionally with hint of green. Fins are a
bright orange to red color. Mature males
smaller and more slender than mature females.
Max length: 30 cm.
Diet: Avid burrower for its preferred diet of
worms, crustaceans, and insects. Nocturnal
feeder.
Reproduction and Development: Migratory;
moves to tributaries and small streams to
spawn during the flood season.
Remarks: This species has a unique intestine
that can act as a respiratory organ, allowing
the fish to absorb oxygen at the surface directly
from the atmosphere.
Tend to be territorial, with an established
hierarchy with a group.
California Academy of Sciences
109
These Academy café residents are known as
jumpers – hopefully they will stay in the tank
and off plates!
Smallmouth Buffalofish
Ictiobus bubalus (Catostomidae)
Suckers
Distribution: Lake Michigan drainage and
Mississippi River basin from Pennsylvania and
Michigan to Montana, and south to the Gulf of
Mexico. Also in Mexico.
Habitat: Inhabits pools, backwaters and main
channels of small to large rivers. Also in lakes
and reservoirs.
Appearance: Deep, moderately compressed
body. Back arched. Back colored gray to dark
olive, sides bronze to gray. Pelvic fins charcoal,
other fins dusky. Length to 112 cm; weight to
37.3 kg.
Diet: Feeds on benthic crustaceans, mollusks;
also algae. Grinds prey with the bony plates
in its throat.
Reproduction and Development: Fertilization
external. Scatter eggs and do not guard. One
seasonal spawning peak per year.
Mortality/Longevity: Lives to at least 15 years.
Remarks: Common name refers to its large size
and humped back.
Not a popular sportfish. There is a commercial
fishery in the Mississippi River and some
large lakes.
ORDER CHARACIFORMES
Flagtail Prochilodus
Semaprochilodus insignis (Prochilodontidae)
Flannel-mouthed Characins
Distribution: Central and western portions
of the Amazon and Orinoco River Basins,
Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Guyana and Brazil.
Habitat: Tropical rivers, especially areas with
aquatic plants.
Appearance: Sexes similar. Oval shaped and
compressed laterally. Silver body, with orange
and black striped tail and anal fin; orange/red
dorsal fin and area above the head. Length:
27–40 cm.
Diet: Sifts through mud preferentially
in floodplains for organic material and
occasionally feeds on algae.