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Arroyo Tres Cruces, Artigas, Uruguay
Home of Crenicichla celidochilus
November 28, 2006
Google Earth image of collecting site. It is about 14 Km from the town of Artigas. This stream joins the Rio Cuareim. Eye elevation = 3,000 ft.
Arroyo Tres Cruces is a rocky bottomed stream in the middle of the prairie. It flows into Rio Cuareim.
GPR coordinates: South 30 degrees 30.402' West 056 degrees 33.115'.
Spencer and I seined this streamside pool and caught thirteen C. celidochilus. They were all about 2 to 3 inches and sported dorsal fin spots. It is a fair guess that they were hatched here in September or early October, which is the first month of the southern spring and suggests that the water must have been quite chilly during the spawning. My guess is that the water could not have been warmer than 65 F (18 C) during the spawn.
The local Ancistrus. ID needed from Catfish experts out there.
C. missioneira, presumably hatched in the Fall (January - March).
The local and omnipresent Astyanax sp.
Australoheros scitulum
Many of the female mouthbrooding Gymnogeophagus (Gymnogenys group) we caught were holding eggs or fry, in which case, we threw them back in the water. These fish were in such a state of reproductive readiness that they would have spawned in the palm of your hand! This pair we caught spawned almost immediately after we placed them in Felipe's holding tank, after 2 days of presumably stressful travel. So if you want to spawn them, chill them at 60 to 65 F for 3 to 4 months and then gradually warm them up to 70 to 75 F while feeding heavily.
A very large and impressive specimen. They rarely get larger in the wild, but in aquaria, old geezers will get bigger.
Spencer ponders life's great questions, "Should I sit on it and hatch myself a pet Rhea or have a very large breakfast tomorrow?"
Fish species found in Arroyo Tres Cruces:
- C. missioneira
- C. scotti
- C. celidochilus
- C. cf. lepidota
- Gymno. sp. Tres Cruces (gymnogenys group)
- Cyanocharax uruguayensis
- Astyanax sp. Bar Tail
- Astyanax sp. Red Tail
- Characidium sp. Long Body
- Otocinclus sp. Emerald
- Ancistris sp.
- Rhineloricaria sp
- Hyphessobrycon sp
- Pseudocorynopoma doriae
- Hepapterus mustelinus
- Gymno. sp. Catalan (rhabdotus group)
- Australoheros scitulum
- There was a marked absence of any Hoplias species in this spot, which is quite unusual. Perhaps that explained the high number of Crenicichla here.
Photos by J. Cardwell, S. Jack and V. Kutty
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