Waters OF Central America

The region of Central America also includes the territory of the West Indies stretching from the peninsula of Florida as far as the mouth of the Orinoco and the island group of the Greater Antilles. Central America is certainly interesting from the ichthyological point of view, for here lies borderline along which fish typical of both South and North America are living side by side. Mexico with the Californian peninsula in the northwest and Yucatan in the east is a predominantly mountainous country with a large number of still active volcanoes. The coastal region of Mexico is mostly covered with mangrove swamps leading to stretches of savannas and towards the south and southeast, jungles overgrow the eastern slopes of the mountains. The mountainous character of the region gives a steep gradient.

FISH in these areas:

                                    Among those having a structure characteristic of Central American fish is first and foremost the family Poeciliidae, also the family Cyprinodonidae. Many species belonging to these families are not only much-sought-after aquarium fish but also useful acids in fighting malaria because they destroy mosquito larvae.

    As to North America, it is the western Californian cost and also lowlands bordering the eastern shores of Texas up to south Carolina that have aroused the aquarists attention. In the state of Luisiana, the river Mississippi flows into the Appalachian Gulf. This is the home of predatory fish of the family Lepisosteidea (gars).These are often on view in large public aquarium. The nature of Florida is especially noteworthy and in south is the Everglades National Park. Here the climate, considerably influenced by the Gulf Stream, has contributed to the rise of a naturally tropical scenery. Streams and river flow through groves of royal palms, forming many swamps and pools, and there is both fresh water and salt water harboring a rich ichthyofauna, e.g. Sunfish of family Cetrarchidae.    

      

           

Waters OF South America

       The major waters of South America are three river systems affecting all life over a vast territory. In the north it is the Orinoco; to the south, the most powerful river ,the Amazon, flows across nearly all the continent and still further south in the Paraná-Paraguay river system. The Amazon is fed by mightily rivers as well as by a number of smaller river and brooks. The great network of meanders, inlets and tributaries alternating filled with tropical rain torrents and flooded with tropical sun, has made it possible for the richest and most variegated ichthyologists estimate that there are up to 2,500 Fish species living here. The variety of fish communities is made still greater by the differences in chemical composition of the waters, from soft, slightly or very acid clean one-the so-called black waters, the Rio Negro-to muddy ones called white waters. Many kilometers below the confluence black and the other white: no substantial fusion is taking place.

Fishes living in South America:

      South America is the home of 6 m long saw fish, Amazon sharks, and Predatory catfish called “pirabia”. Attaining a length of       3 m and electric eels generating electricity with a current of as much as 650 v. Also minute parasitic fish of genus Stegophilus live here, burrowing in the gills of large fish of the genus Vandellia which penetrate the urinary system of bathing mammals. Shoals of piranhas with strong jaws equipped with many teeth as sharp as scalpels inspire terror. Beside these ichthyological dainties, there is a great variety of species of small fishes, many of which, e.g. Tetras of the family characidae, adorn our aquariums.

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Introduction

       The oldest records on aquaristics with rearing the "gold-fish" date back to 1163 and come from China.Nevertheless,it was not until 1850s that the history of modern aquaristics  began. The first aquarium with plants and fish was setup by the English Naturalist S.H. Ward in 1841 . In 1855 it was, by coincidence, another English-man and naturalist, P.H. Gross, who in his publication used the word “aquarium” for the first time. The Frenchman Carbionnier, a pioneer in this area, was the first breeder in 1869-1870 he succeed in breeding and rearing the paradise fish (macropodus opercularis).During the last decades, a factual aquaristic explosion has taken place all over the world, resulting in an increasing flow of information on the subject, but simultaneously also a merciless devastation of natural habitats. It is in fact easier to take a fish from the wild than to breed it. The demand for fish is immense, their production is insufficient and the resources are much too easy exhaustible. The solution of this problem, which has become more than pressing, lies in mastering the artificial breeding of fish in captivity, so as to leave nature as a laboratory, a place of study and a fish reservoir.