Biotopes of Japan | Stiphodon percnopterygionus

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Biotopes of Japan 1 Comment

The first time I saw a photo of a Stiphodon sp. I felt a sensation of observing a masterpiece of art, I have always been amazed (and still feel the same today), those colours of the males combined with the characteristic iridescent lines near the mouth make them special and unique. This “drawing” made them practically perfect. Then researching and looking for information, over time, I understood a little more about their biology, I now knew their real size, how they always tried to be on top of the rocks to control everything visually from there. Of course, the characteristics …

Biotopes of Spain| The biotope of the Samaruc and the Fartet

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Conservation Leave a Comment

The family Cyprinodontidae, widely distributed in Africa and America, has only three representations in the Iberian fauna, namely, Valencia Hispanica (Valenciennes, 1826) or “Samaruc”, Aphanius Iberus (Valenciennes, 1846) or “Fartet” and finally the Aphanius baeticus (Doadrios, Carmona & Fernández-Delgado, 2002) or “Salinete”; in this article we will focus ourselves on the first two species. We could say that the emotional charge of this biotope is impressive, two species in a small region so abused in the past that nowadays great efforts are made to avoid their extinctions; in all honesty, being able to see these small fish in their natural …

Biotopes of Argentina | Fishes of the Iguazu Falls

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Biotopes of South America Leave a Comment

Years ago, when I went to this beautiful province for the first time, I asked myself which fish would inhabit the Iguazu Falls, although I like all the fish, my thoughts were oriented (as always) towards the aquarium fish. A little information about this pearl of the Argentine north. The province of Misiones has an area of ​​29,801km² and is the second largest in the provinces of the Argentine Republic, integrating the Brasilia massif through the missionary plateau. Its rocks contain important amounts of iron, it decomposes and forms part of the soil, giving it the characteristic red color (see …

Biotopes of the Caribbean | The only biotope of the Laguna Bávaro Pupfish

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope 4 Comments

A Killifish that can only be found in one single lagoon  Who would believe that there are fishes around the world that exist only in one very small lagoon and nowhere else? Well, this is the case here  and we only find this Killi in the Bávaro Lagoon, Higuey, Dominican Republic. Several times I have had the fortune of being in the Dominican lands and it is something I recommend to all those who love good beaches! But of course, also for the aquarium  enthusiasts because there are several varieties of native Limia sp. and Cyprinodon sp. that we can easily …

URUGUAY, la tierra de los Gymnogeophagus y Austrolebias

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Biotopes of South America, Uncategorised Leave a Comment

  Desde hace varios años distintos artículos en revistas y libros nos deleitaban con las especies halladas en este maravilloso país tan natural que para nosotros está  al otro lado del “charco” llamado Rio de la Plata. Ya desde las aventuras del famoso grupo FLA FLO DUL (Fauna y Flora dulce acuícola) en los noventa,  hasta algunas publicaciones en Tropical Fish Hobbyest como también en estos últimos años, en la revista Amazonas, nos mostraban  una variedad de peces únicas muy atractivas para los amantes de la acuariofilia. La idea era conocer los biotopos de algunos Austrolebias (“Cynolebias”) uruguayas como también …

Biodiversity of the Rio Paraná Delta, Argentina

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Biotopes of South America 2 Comments

For many years, when thinking about ornamental fish, I wonder how this paradise of species has not been better recognised and appreciated. This Argentine delta is a unique place, unlike any other similar habitat in the world. It is a beautiful wetland, a magical place with lagoons, jungle, grasslands and floating islands that form in the space of just a few years and are constantly mutating to give birth to new biotopes for different species – this place is so very rich in biodiversity. Firstly, to appreciate the size of this Eden of ornamental fish it is instrumental to know …

Fishing for Heckel Discus in the Rio Demini

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Discus Fish 2 Comments

In this article my intention is to give some insight into the world of the Heckel Discus (Symphysodon discus) before they arrive to our aquariums. This prior world is less well known but holds all of the joy and satisfaction as keeping the fish themselves. I will tell you only things which I experienced personally in the ten days of this trip, things which taught me a great deal. Amazonia Any ornamental fish lover at some point has thought about what it would be like to see or visit the Amazon. The vast majority of all freshwater fish in the …

The Route of the Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)

Marcelo Fernandez Biotope, Fish History 1 Comment

The route of the Cardinal Tetra One of the aquarium fish with more pages held in the books of hobbyists than Discus and Angelfish combined is the Cardinal tetra. More precisely, Paracheirodon axelrodi. These characids we could consider as the most popular tetras in the ornamental fish hobby, their distinctive color contrast and beauty makes them unique and although there are several similar tetras such as the Paracheirodon inessi (previously in the genus Hyphessobrycon) or P. simulans, they do not possess the elegance of that of the King of the tetras. Such is the importance of this characid, whole families …