Etroplus canarensis - The Search for the Rarest Indian Cichlid
By Ravi Chandran of Bangalore, India.
www.indianaquariumhobbyist.com
Aquarticles
An IAH team went in search of the Indian Cichlid, Etroplus
canarensis. Here is a photo feature story of that trip.
Early morning start at 5 am from Metro, Yelahanka, Bangalore.
Breakfast on the way, at Kamat Uppachaar restuarant, close to Hassan.
The bridge few kilometers before Subramanya, a small temple town about 60 kms from
Mangalore, on the Western Ghats. We reached this spot at about 11:30 am.
Markings on the bridge.
View from the bridge. This is where E canarensis lives. The IAH team is already
on the job, looking for canarensis.
Another view of the same area. Notice how concentrated these guys are on finding the fish
?
Still looking ...
And looking ... No canarensis yet!
Well, let's try the net.
In the meantime, Nayak & Co have located the first E canarensis shoal !
Not much luck at this spot till now.
Yes. Positive ID. It's indeed E canarensis!
Another view of the biotope.
There are lot's of mini cascades like this. The water should be very well oxyginated.
Upstream from the cascade.
Karthik trying to escape the sun & heat, under the cool, green canopy. However, canarensis
were not found here.
Indiana Madan & the Temple of Etroplus canarensis.
Now let's look at fish pictures.
Can you spot Mr. E canarensis ? He's under the wood stick, right in the middle of
the picture. Note that he's under the shadow of the stick. Canarensis seems to
try & stay under shadow. Maybe to escape the harsh sunlight or maybe to avoid being
seen by predators.
He seems to be eating something which is anchored to that stick.
He seems to be twisting & turning a lot.
He was turning so fast that he came back to position in previous picture!
His body seems to be very flexible. Not only he turns & twists, his body also curves a
lot.
Another picture of the E canarensis feeding.
E canarensis feeding at another location. Photographing E canarensis is
a long wait & shoot affair. He is constantly on the move & spends very little time
in one spot. Even while feeding, he suddenly takes a break & swims off & returns
after many seconds.
I had to move constantly to keep him in sight. Thanks God for autofocus & zoom lens,
which made my life easy.
Another shot of E canarensis.
E canarensis, as usual, suddenly disappeared. I spotted this little freshwater
puffer. He was a small chap, about one cm in length. He was floating with the water flow,
but tried to stay away from swift currents.
Again, E canarensis dashed back into view.
Few more pictures of E canarensis.
I now moved to another area almost under the bridge. Two E canarensis, maybe Mr
& Mrs, were playing & feeding here. Changed over to 90 mm macro for these shots.
Here again, these two were moving quite a lot.
Note that amount of sediments. The whole area had very high suspended solids, which
settled all over the river bed. This created two problems. One: it turned the water murky
if disturbed. And two: it made the rocks very slippery.
What's that fish floating over the small stone ? Is that a Indian Needle Fish ?
Adip (with white cap) & Madhu (to Adip's left) are busy with the nets. No catch yet.
Trevor & Sriram are busy trading notes. Only thing missing there was neera.
Note frown on Beta's (left, in Black IAH T Shirt) & Karthik's faces. Further down this
photo feature, you will see Beta & others in action, netting fishes. Note the smile on
their faces after a successful catch.
Biotope 2
Later that day, we reached a river spot close to the road checked it out for
Canarensis. Here are the photos from that spot.
Here you can see the dense vegetation on the river banks.
What you see in the center of the picture is actually a island in the middle of the river.
At that point of time, water flow was very low. River have at best knee deep water.
Island part is now visible.
Adip searching for fishes.
Madhu looking for fishes.
Beta checkingout Karthik's catch.
Ravindran not only cut is foot but also sprained his other foot. He wisely decided to sit
watch.
View of the biotope.
Parasitic fern which grows on trees.
Debris on the water edge.
Beta: "Ho dear. Not a single canarensis were found till now".
RR Sriram checking out Madan's portable microscope.
Madan checking water parameters.
Note liquid has now turned light blue.
Now, it's light yellow.
Biotope 3
Next day morning, we left Subramanya for Bangalore. One the way, we checked out the
third biotope. Here are few pictures for the local scenary.
Karthik & Madhu lift a bog wood. That huge tree truck was a handful.
Thankfully, they did not hurt themselves when they let go of it.
This is the end of the dry season. Soon, monsoon rains will start to fall and these large
rocks will be fully covered with water.
Adip is a "Where are these canarensis ?" mood.
Madhu picking up his net.
The successful catch
Now we come an interesting episode. Beta & Madhu successfully netted some canarensis.
Oops ! They got away!.
Let's try again.
Yep. They are coming this way.
Where the hell are they ?
Beta : "That's it. That's it. Keep them moving towards me".
Almost got them.
Oops ! They are gone!
Karthik ! You are chasing away all the fishes!
And, you can never swim & catch them!
Madhu had enough of all these elusive canarensis. He decided to get the big guns.
In this case, it's the big net.
Ok. Let's try it one more time. This time, let's call master breeder Adip to join us.
Ok. Here we go. Adip & Madhu, chase them in.
"Adip, watch out", shouts Beta. "Madhu, send them here".
The scoop! We got them!
Their face says it all. Compare Beta's face with earlier picture when he was not able to
get any.
The net which made all this possible.
And here are these guys! And look at the colour difference.
Editor's note: For more on Etroplus Canarensis
please see: Collecting Tropical Fish in India,
by Vinny Kutty
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