until recently only the "madagascan rainbow" Bedotia madagascariensis
(geayi is a junior synonym, according to him) was known to the hobby and
had been described. dr. melanie stiassny, at the american museum of
natural history, is in the process of describing a second species.
the aquarium is keeping 2 additional species: one is a metalic blue and
silver fish, nicknamed "metallic blue" and the other is a silvery fish
nicknamed "white fins." both species will be distributed to the hobby
once the fry are fully grown, as neither one is difficult to breed.
according to him, there is a fifth species that someone else is working
with (i couldn't remember who).
he mentioned to me that in madagascar, many fish range up to a certain
altitude only to be replaced by a similar species in the higher range.
he suspects that the number of Bedotia species could be double what we
know today since many of madagascar rivers are poorly explored (due to
inaccessibility), especially at higher altitudes. as a matter of fact,
the number of madagascan cichlid species known to science has doubled
since 1992!
in addition to the Bedotia, the aquarium is working with several strains
of the killiefish Pachypanchax omalonotus. there was also one lone
specimen of Reocles, another Atheriniformes (i couldn't catch the family
for sure, maybe another Bedotiidae). this was the lone surviving fry of
the brood that was born there.
there was a wonderful poster of madagascan fish posted outside his
office. in addition to B. madagascariensis and cichlids, there was a
beautiful Scatophagus tetracanthus, a black striped scat that inhabits
brackish waters in madagascar but in east africa ranges into purely
freshwater.
tsuh yang chen, new york city
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