RE: Melanotaenia oktediensis

Barry Meiklejohn (fisher at ozemail.com.au)
Thu, 18 Jul 1996 11:02:39 +1000

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From: Harro Hieronimus[SMTP:Harro.Hieronimus at t-online.de]
Subject: Melanotaenia oktediensis

In No 1/96 of the "Rainbowfish" (German version, English version in a few days) we reported about the heavy pollution of the Ok Tedi River. There was a detailed article on the protest movement of some natives of this area in a large German news magazine.

The natives reported that they stopped catching fish as the results wouldn't justify the efforts. That would mean that the pollution would endanger the existance of Melanotaenia oktediensis in nature. Does anybody have detailed information on the situatio
n at the Ok Tedi River?

harro.hieronimus at t-online.de

Harro

Peter Unmack sent me the following e-mail in reply to my similar thoughts on the Ok-tedi. Reading Gerry's book it may not be as big a problem as I had been thinking.

Regards,

Barry.

Oktediensis primarily occur in tributaries to the Ok Tedi River. They
were never abundant in the mainstream as it constituted somewhat different
habitat which was dominated by rubrostriata. Ok Tedi rubros are
probably under greater threat. Only the mainstream has been dominated by
pollution from the mine. Please read page 132 of Jerry's new book