Re: The "Amazon Explorers" return

[Kathy Olson <kathy@thekrib.com>]

Erik basically covered it all.  I was really hoping to find some really
cool stuff  on the Rio Negro but found that with the high water it was
more difficult than I thought. (ie dicrossus, biotecus, lots of blackwater
apisto's)

On the Rio Negro
Sometime  2 hours of fish collecting would yield 1-2 apisto's, and a bunch
of latecara, tetra's, geophagus, etc.  

Then there was that am exploring the forest and tributaries where we
stopped on shore for 30 min bathroom stop.  There I got 3 A.
hippolytae...thankfully a pair, and 3 other apisto's and 5 fry.  A good
haul for what we had encountered so far on the negro....then evryone else
piled back in the boats (being plant people, botanists etc) and off they
went to search for plants, I should of dug in my heals and stayed but got
pulled back in the boats.

The areas we collected on the negro, had dark tannic water.  Main channels
pH in the 5's with occasional 4 in the small local areas we collected.
The apisto's were very shallow in 2-6 inches of water.  Lots of leaves on
the bottom and spiders everywhere!  Ended up with a spider bite that was
an experience to give me nightmares for awhile!!  (mine wasn't nearly as
bad as another guys on the boat either but still needed debriding and
had some necrotic tissue)

In the flooded forest with depths 2inches to 4 feet I really expected to
find a lot of apisto's and didn't. (on the Negro) Definitely shallow
banks.  Of couse the other people on the trip said dry season is
definitely time to go.  This was a plant and Victorian Lily trip and there
higher water is better.


On the amazon/Rio Solimes, collecting was amazingly easier.  Found lots of
cool aquatic plants, cory. pygmaus, hoplo. cats (not in aqaulog), whiptail
cats, other cats, freshwater shrimp, apisto's, latecara, geophagus and a
lone biotecus (really wanted more of these guys!!).  Here I would
consistently find apisto's in water that barely covered your shoes (2-3
inches) whitewater with plants, deep 4 or so inches was laetecara, and
deeper geophagus.  Even picked up a knife fish.  One site I picked up 20
apisto's in a half hour, once I have those quarantened for awhile I will
get them out into the hobby.


It was an awesome trip just to see the biotopes, birds, flowers, monkeys,
etc.


When we get the GPS data, we will write more and corelate it with the
sites and probably even an on line map (that is Eriks area so I defer to
him)

But we are home, alive, and only four more weeks of antimalarial medicine
to take!

Kathy




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