My Stocking Ideas

[mishka83]

I took a trip to Maidenhead Aquatics for the 1st time ever today!

Was mega impressed and think i'm decided now

* Guppies: 12 (4 male, 8 female)
* Platies: 12 (4 male, 8 female)
* Corydoras Sterbei: 6
* Emerald Corydoras: 6
* Blue Cobalt Dwarf Gouramis: 3/4. The shop didn't have any females to my knowledge
* Royal Plec L191: 1 (I know it grows large but i'm having one)

 

[waterdrop]

Anyone out there ever studied their natural habitat? I wonder what manner of separation and behavior is seen in the field.. ah, probably just another of the wide areas of ignorance for us - when you get to the occasional conference and hear the stories and see the slides of the adventurers you realize how few scientists (and little money) there are/is to go around for all the interesting questions out there. Are there any shots of dwarf gouramis in nature on youtube or such?

I had a quick look...

The species of trichopodus [now known as Colisa], which I have seen, are all very beautiful, and are common in the ponds, marshes, and ditches of the Gangetic provinces; but they are all small, are no where found in great quantity

..which I would take to imply that as with Bettas, they live in very low concentrations, thereby avoiding most contact with their own kind. I suspect that in nature, males are highly territorial, so do not move far from their chosen breeding spot and so do not encounter each other very often.

If you are interested in the rest:

The Bengalese give to all the species the generic name Colisa, (Kholisha but the first, being considered as the prototype of the genus, receives this name without addition, while each of the others receives a specific appellation prefixed to the generic name.

[...]

4th Species.—Trichopodus Lalius. [aka C. lalia, the dwarf gourami]
A trichopodus with the fin of the tail fan-shaped, and with transverse red bars on the sides.
This most beautiful fish is no larger than the third species, and is of a green colour, with many transverse red bars on the sides, and with a silver-coloured gloss on the breast and gillcovers. The hinder fins are spotted with red. The eyes are red with a dusky transverse bar.
The head is blunt and unarmed, and the edges of the cheekbones are not indented. There are no teeth, except a roughness on the jaws. The eyes are of a moderate size. The edge of the foremost plate in each gill-cover is indented. The membranes are concealed, each containing about four rays.
There is no lateral line.
The back fin contains sixteen prickles and eight branched rays. The pectoral fins are low, and each contains nine rays. The ventral fins reach to near the end of the fin behind the vent, which contains eighteen prickles and fifteen branched rays. In the tail fin there are sixteen distinct rays, with some short compacted ones on each side.

Ah, most kind of you to put together a nice follow-up like that KK, many thanks! I totally agree with you - I've always worked from the assumption that they have lived scattered and potentially in smaller places of water like ditches, but it's a shock to realize I'd quite forgotten any Indian connection if I ever really took that in when I was young. So it looks like this is saying they're found (or were mostly found) on the Eastern side of India? (Do they extend on the western side near Pakistan also?) and perhaps over into Burma regions or is it just mostly Bangladesh area? Or even more limited to only Ganges river? And does this encompass all the gouramis or particularly Dwarves. We should link this over in to the Gourami group.

It makes me think about my last big snorkling week (down in the Caribbean, salt water of course) during which I remember thinking how dramatically different the territorial behaviors were that I observed. I'm sure this would be elementary stuff for zoologists who really study these things but I was really struck by this basic. It was a huge contrast. Some of the fish were just completely "stuck" to their territory, which was tiny, just a little area around a safety rock in some cases. Whereas of course other fish roamed far and wide and we all know of big fish and whales that travel the oceans. I'm sure the in-between territorial behaviors are just harder to see.. but boy, some of those with tight territories were just always there. I would go back to the spots (in my home cove, which I got to know the best even though I was driving to other diving spots and spending all day at those) where I had identified these (Morey Eels were one example if I remember) and there they would be, reliable as ever and still being tough little guardians of their cave!

Anyway, wouldn't it be delightful to be led around by some fish explorer or knowledgeable local or something and be able to find and see the extent of variety in the places where Dwarf Gouramis end up and make their bubble nests? You wonder, would it range from dirty crowded little ditches to backwaters of streams to banks of the Ganges itself? Would the spots be mostly clear, or muddy, or tannin stained? Or would the lakes be more popular or would the different places, ditches, ponds, river mean you would see different types of Gouramis. Ah, it's just another of the never-ending examples of how a little information just leads to new realizations of your own ignorance. ...maybe I should visit the zoology library today, sigh.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[KittyKat]

I totally agree with you - I've always worked from the assumption that they have lived scattered and potentially in smaller places of water like ditches, but it's a shock to realize I'd quite forgotten any Indian connection if I ever really took that in when I was young. So it looks like this is saying they're found (or were mostly found) on the Eastern side of India? (Do they extend on the western side near Pakistan also?) and perhaps over into Burma regions or is it just mostly Bangladesh area? Or even more limited to only Ganges river? And does this encompass all the gouramis or particularly Dwarves. We should link this over in to the Gourami group.

As far as I am aware, the vast majority of that shaped gourami (dwarf, honey, blue, thick lip, giant, snakeskin, lace/pearl, moonlight) range from north-east India, through Bangladesh and down into Thailand. From what I understand, some parts of those areas do become flooded during the monsoon season enough for fish to be able to swim between rivers, so I doubt that most are restricted to just one river.
The Betta-shaped gouramis (Parosphromenus, etc) and sparkling gouramis generally lie further to the south-east, toward Indonesia and Malaysia, with some exceptions with ranges across south India, such as Pseudosphromenus dayi, Malpulutta kretseri and other oddballs.

It makes me think about my last big snorkling week (down in the Caribbean, salt water of course) during which I remember thinking how dramatically different the territorial behaviors were that I observed. I'm sure this would be elementary stuff for zoologists who really study these things but I was really struck by this basic. It was a huge contrast. Some of the fish were just completely "stuck" to their territory, which was tiny, just a little area around a safety rock in some cases. Whereas of course other fish roamed far and wide and we all know of big fish and whales that travel the oceans. I'm sure the in-between territorial behaviors are just harder to see.. but boy, some of those with tight territories were just always there. I would go back to the spots (in my home cove, which I got to know the best even though I was driving to other diving spots and spending all day at those) where I had identified these (Morey Eels were one example if I remember) and there they would be, reliable as ever and still being tough little guardians of their cave!

The counterpart to that are some of the Bettas, of course, whose territory will contain all of their immediate water body and who can die from exhaustion, if their potential territory is too large. Some of these fish live in such small bodies of water, that they are perfectly capable of travelling very short distances over wet mud into the next pool.

Anyway, wouldn't it be delightful to be led around by some fish explorer or knowledgeable local or something and be able to find and see the extent of variety in the places where Dwarf Gouramis end up and make their bubble nests? You wonder, would it range from dirty crowded little ditches to backwaters of streams to banks of the Ganges itself? Would the spots be mostly clear, or muddy, or tannin stained? Or would the lakes be more popular or would the different places, ditches, ponds, river mean you would see different types of Gouramis. Ah, it's just another of the never-ending examples of how a little information just leads to new realizations of your own ignorance. ...maybe I should visit the zoology library today, sigh.

A friend of mine organises trips to Peru, with the sole purpose of collecting fish and studying their natural habitats. I am hoping that funds will allow me to join him next year, as my primary interest is in the smaller South American fish.. I know that such trips are also regularly available to the Rift Lakes (when politics allow), so I would not be surprised if there was an equivalent option in Asia.

 

[waterdrop]

Well then, pics will be in order as all the TFFers will want to see you standing on one of those Amazonian boats! Not to mention an underwater fish pic or two!

It was sad this week to read of football-field sized areas per day of the Amazon being cleared because of the price of gold going so high. One step forward, two steps back.

WD