The Harlequin shrimp originates from the island Sulawesi in Indonesia where it is collected from a number of freshwater lakes. It lives in freshwater sponges which it cleans by eating debris and algae from the surface of the sponge. This feeding behaviour has earned them their scientific name Caridina spongicola. The Harlequin shrimp does not require sponges to survive and can be fed a wide variety of food in captivity and be kept in a number of different setups.

The harlequin shrimp is a somewhat sensitive shrimp that is hard to keep and it is not recommended for beginners who want to keep their first shrimps. It is normal for this species to loose its colours when introduced to a new aquarium. The colour returns once it starts feeling safe in its new environment, and it is very important to decorate your aquarium in a way that makes the shrimp feel safe with a lot of hiding places. Despite a good setup with a lot of hiding places these shrimps are usually very shy during the first days in a new home.

The best setup for a Harlequin shrimp is one that mimics those Sulawesi lakes from which it originates. The pH-value should preferably be alkaline even though this species can adapt to neutral water or even slightly acidic conditions. The temperature should always be kept above 78 °F / 25.5 °C and an even higher water temperature near 85 °F /29 °C is better. The harlequin shrimp needs good water quality and is very sensitive to nitrogenous waste. If water quality drops it is best not to feed the shrimp for a few days. They will tolerate that better than a prolonged drop in water quality. Harlequin shrimps can be sensitive to rapid changes in the water parameters and large water changes are therefore not recommended. It is better to change a little water often.

Harlequin shrimps are easy to feed and will accept most types of commercial fish food. In the wild they do as earlier mentioned live on sponges where they eat a lot of algae. It is therefore recommended to use an algae based food as the base of their diet. They should however be offered a varied diet that includes occasional meaty treats. They are small shrimps and need to be fed small food. It is best to feed your harlequin shrimps after dark and they should not be fed more then they consume in2-3 hours.

As far as we know it isn’t possible to sex Harlequin shrimps based on external dissimilarities. It is possible that the females are larger but this notion has not been confirmed. The small size of this shrimp makes finding external methods of sexing harder than in other, larger shrimps.

The Harlequin shrimp is hard to breed but will breed in aquariums if kept in ideal conditions. Their reproduction rate is low and they usually only produce 10-15 eggs at a time. The eggs are carried by the female until they hatch after 20-30 days. The baby shrimplets look exactly like their parents with the harlequin pattern. The colour is however less intense in the fry.

The Clownfish is named after its showy colouration and striking pattern and it is also an amusing fish to watch since it swims by bobbing its body up and down. The other name, Anemonefish, is of course a reference to the symbiotic relationship with anemones. Somehow, clownfish manage to live among the dangerous tentacles without being stung. The clownfish receives protection from predators who do not dare to come near the stingy anemone and in return the clownfish keeps the stationary anemone clean by removing uneaten food, dead tentacles and other types of debris from its surface.

Exactly how Anemonefish manages to stay out of harms way remains a mystery, but it may have something to do with slim secretion. What we do know is that an Anemonefish introduced to a new species of anemone normally needs some time to adapt to it. This is important to keep in mind if you want to provide your clownfish with an anemone in captivity.

Compared to most other marine fish species, the clownfish is known to adapt well to life in captivity and it does not need an exceedingly large aquarium since it is used to never venturing far from its anemone in the wild. It is even known to readily breed in captivity. It is possible to keep clownfish without an anemone in an aquarium without any dangerous predators, but some other type of hiding spot where the fish can feel secure will of course be appreciated. Wild clownfish always use an anemone as breeding site, but once they have realized that the aquarium is free from predators they are known to breed even in tanks without any anemone present.

If you decide to get a live anemone, keep in mind that it is much more delicate and requires considerably more pampering than the clownfish. It will for instance require even better water quality and much stronger lighting. Adult clownfish are quite resilient towards nitrite compared to other marine creatures, but it isn’t healthy for them and can lead to health problems in the long run. Nitrite is also believed to harm Clown fish eggs and hamper larval development.

Clownfish is comparatively easy to breed in aquaria and A. perculae and A. ocellaris can be recommended if you’ve never bred marine fish species before. They are less aggressive than most other species of clownfish and also smaller. They do however need time to get used to their new home, so don’t be surprised if it takes 6 months of more before they show any interest in spawning.

The new darter has been given the scientific name Etheostoma erythrozonum and the common name Meramec Saddled Darter. It is a sister species of the Missouri Saddled Darter, Etheostoma tetrazonum.

E. erythrozonum is very similar to E. tetrazonum in appearance, but lacks the prominent blue-green colouration for which E. tetrazonum is famous. The anal fin of E. erythrozonum is blue-green and some hints of blue can also be seen at the spinous dorsal fin base of certain males, but the colour is inconspicuous and never as outstanding as in E. tetrazon.

The paper describing the new darter has been published in the journal Zootaxa.
Zootaxa 2095: 1–7 (2009)
It can be downloaded at:
www.mapress.com/zootaxa

* John F. Switzer, U.S. Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Aquatic Ecology Branch, Kearneysville, West Virginia
E-mail: jswitzer@usgs.gov

** Robert M. Wood, Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri
E-mail: wood2@slu.edu

The new species has been named Brachyhypopomus bullocki in honour of Theodore Holmes Bullock, a renowned neurobiologist who died in 2005. Bullock was a pioneer of the comparative neurobiology of both invertebrates and vertebrates and is credited with the first physiological recordings from an electroreceptor and for championing electric fishes as a model system in neurobiology.

Brachyhypopomus bullocki can be recognized by its large eyes (compared to the size of the head), its short abdomen, and its distally enlarged poorly ossified third and fourth branchiostegal rays. It is equipped with an electrical organ capable of discharging biphasic electricity. The pulse rate varies from 20–80 Hz and the duration is 0.9–1.6 milliseconds.

This knifefish lives in the clear and shallow standing waters of flooded open savannah and savannah regions mixed with stands of Mauritia palm. It has also been found sheltering among plants that grow along the banks of small pools fed by streams. In Rio Negro, one specimen was found living amongst palm leaf litter near the outlet of a black water stream.

If you wish to learn more about this knifefish you can downloaded the paper directly from Cornell University.

* John P. Sullivan, Department of Ichthyology, The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Email: sullivan@ansp.org

** Carl D. Hopkins, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, New York. Email: cdh8@cornell.edu

Algae is a very diverse group of plants. They share a lot of characteristics with higher plants but lack many of the organs you will find in higher plants. Algae are simple organisms compared to higher organisms, and it is widely believed that higher plants evolved from algae millions of years ago. There are single-celled and multi-cellular types of algae. Multi-cellular algae can be very similar to higher plants and an example of this is the large marine algae known as kelp.

Algae are believed to have evolved from cyanobacteria from which they inherited the capacity for photosynthesis. Today most algae species use photosynthesis to get the energy they need, but there are some types of algae that can absorb organic carbon through osmotrophy, myzotrophy or phagotrophy and such species do not need to rely on photosynthesis.

Osmotrophy = Dissolved organic matter is absorbed through osmosis.

Myzocytosis (aka cellular vampirism) = The algae suck out cellular content from another cell using a feeding tube.

Phagocytosis = Consumption of solid food particles with the help of a cell membrane that forms an internal food vacuole.

Algae can be found virtually every type of environment where there is water; from the sea and the garden pond to the bathroom and kitchen. Some algae species are highly praised as popular as food items or decorations in aquariums, while other algae types are widely disliked and people try to control them if possible. Today, algae are of an ever increasing use in society and is for instance found in diet supplements and animal food, as well as utilized to make oil and jet fuel, and to help control dangerous substances in water and aquariums.

When the young fish has formed a pair you can remove all fish but the pair from the aquarium or, if you prefer, move the pair into their own tank. It is usually risky to keep your breeding pair in the same tank as other fish as they can become very aggressive during spawning. However, if the aquarium is large enough for the pair to have a territory and still leave room for other fish outside the territory you can allow other fish to stay in the tank with the breeding pair.

You will need to provide the pair with a nutritious diet and a suitable environment if you want them to breed. Different species prefers different environments and you should therefore always research the species you want to breed before setting up the breeding aquarium. All true tilapia fish are egg layers and most that are kept in aquariums are open substrate spawners meaning they want a stone, root or leaf to place their eggs on.

The pair will clean a suitable spawning substrate and the female will then lay her eggs on it. Once the eggs are laid the male fertilizes them. The female only lays a few eggs at a time and the process is repeated until all eggs are deposited. A tilapia couple can produce a large amount of fry.

Tilapia fish are usually very good parents and will protect the eggs and young from anything that might be a threat during the first few weeks of their life. The fry are easy to feed and can be fed brine shrimp from day one.

We will start with perhaps the easiest species of all: the convict cichlid.

Breeding convict cichlids

Breeding convict cichlids is very easy and there is and old aquarist saying that goes:
- How do you breed convict cichlids?
- Add water!
This might be to oversimplify things a little but is not too far from the truth. Convict cichlids can breed in very diverse environments. If you decide to try to keep and breed convict cichlids you should remember that these are aggressive fish not suitable for a standard community aquarium. They become even more aggressive when they spawn. You can keep one pair of convicts by themselves in a 20 gallon / 80 L tank but a 30 gallon /120L is better in the long run. If you want to keep them with other fish I recommend at least a 50 gallon/200L tank. Only keep them with other aggressive species.

Decorate the breeding aquarium with some flat smooth rocks that can serve as spawning site. Some caves are also appreciated. They do not need plants and if you use plants only use robust plants and cover the area around them with rocks as this cichlid likes to dig and often destroy less hardy plants.

Water temperature and pH-value is not that in important as long as extremes are avoided and as long as you remember that this is a tropical fish that shouldn’t be kept in a cold water aquarium.

Convicts often spawn on a diet of nothing but flake food but you should try to give them a more varied diet none the less.

Prior to spawning the pair cleans a spawning site, usually a flat rock or the roof of a cave. The actually spawning then takes place on that spawning site. The female deposits some eggs that the male then fertilizes. This is repeated until all eggs are deposited. They are usually very good parents and will protect the eggs and fry from any and all threats during the first few weeks. Don’t be surprised if they attack your hand if you work in the tank. The fry is easy to feed and can be fed commercial fry food and newly hatched brine shrimp from day one. After 1-2 weeks they are usually big enough to eat mashed flake food. They fry grows rather quick.

Good luck trying to breed the convict cichlid – the rabbit of the sea.

To being with, it is important to choose the right species since many of the commonly kept plecos grow very large and are next to impossible to breed in aquariums. Such species are best bred in large ponds, since they need plenty of room to carry out their breeding behaviours. This article will focus on introducing you to some of the plecos that are suitable to keep if you want to breed plecos in home aquaria.

The perhaps easiest to breed of all catfish species are the pleco species found in the genus Ancistrus. Most Ancistrus species are omnivoures and should be feed a varied diet but there are some carnivores in this genus as well. The common Bristlednosed pleco from the genus Ancistrus is the perfect beginner pleco.

Peckoltia and Panaque are two other genera that contain plecos suitable for keeping and breeding in the home aquarium. It is very important that you provide species from these genera with driftwood as they want it as a part of their diet. These species are much more difficult to breed than Ancistrus species but it is still possible to breed them without having a pond.

The genus Hypancistrus and Baryancistrus also contain plecos that can be kept and breed in aquariums. The genus Hypancistrus contains the very popular and expensive Zebra pleco (L146). Hypancistrus and Baryancistrus plecos are carnivores and should be fed a varied meaty diet and kept in very clean water to spawn. It is important to provide these species with suitable breeding sites. Research your species to find out exactly what that means.

It can be very tempting to go out and get some stunning exotic pleco like the zebra pleco to breed. After all, they are very expensive so you will earn a lot of money from the fry right? However, those plecos are expensive for a reason. Yes they can be bred in aquariums but they are much harder to breed and much more sensitive than the cheaper species. I strongly recommend that you start out with a simple species like the common Bristlenose pleco; keep and breed it and then slowly move on to more and more sensitive species.

The Banded archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) is probably the most common species in the aquarium trade, but it is very hard to breed in aquariums and very little is know about its breeding habits and requirements. It has however been bred more or less accidentally on a number of occasions.

The Banded archerfish is a very prolific species and one spawning can result in around 3000 eggs. The eggs can easily be transferred to a rearing aquarium by being scooped. Make sure the eggs never leave the water as you transfer them. The eggs hatch after 12 hours and the fry will be free swimming some time later. The fry can be hard to feed as they search for food near the surface of the tank and must be provided with very small floating food. Live food is to be preferred. I recommend keeping the fry in very shallow aerated water, since this will allow you to feed them artemia nauplier that will be brought back to the surface by the current. The same method is successfully used to feed other small surface dwelling fry such as African butterfly fish fry.

It is unknown exactly what triggers Banded archerfish to spawn but one theory is that increasing salinity level to pure saltwater might help trigger spawning. This theory is derived from the belief that only juvenile archerfish live in freshwater. The adults are believed to move out to coral reefs to breed. The currents then bring the eggs and larvae back into brackish environments. This have however not been scientifically confirmed.

A new species of wrasse, named Halichoeres sazimai, has been described from the Western South Atlantic off the southern and south-eastern coasts of Brazil. In this environment, researchers Osmar Luiz, Jr, Carlos Ferreira and Luiz Rocha regularly observed it foraging solitary over sandy bottoms immediately adjacent to the lower end of rocky reefs. Once in a while, they also saw harems comprised of 5-10 specimens.

This wrasse can be recognized on its white body which is decorated with a zigzag patterned midline stripe. Females and juvenile fish have a yellow or golden stripe, while a black or brownish stripe is seen on terminal males.

Halichoeres sazimai has been named in honour of Brazilian ichthyologist Ivan Sazima from Universidade Estadual de Campinas in São Paolo.

The paper has been published in the journal Zootaxa.

“OJ, Jr, Luiz, CEL Ferreira and LA Rocha (2009) Halichoeres sazimai, a new species of wrasse (Perciformes: Labridae) from the Western South Atlantic. Zootaxa 2092, pp. 37–46.”