First, a big thank you to everyone who reached out to us after going to the hospital. Unfortunately, there have been some complications and we are still recovering. The good news is that we are alive and will live to fish another day! It has been quite a few years for us and 2021 cannot get here fast enough!
Now on to the good stuff. Last December, a group of us traveled to Florencia, Colombia in the Caqueta region. This area of South America can be defined as Andean highlands with lush forests, many insects especially ants and a very catfish friendly paradise. We hope to share many of the species we found in this location with everyone at a Catfish Convention in the future. Fingers crossed that we can get back to such events soon.
Prior to going on these expeditions, we always investigate to see what species of fish we may encounter. One of these species was Duringlanis altae. This species was first described by Fowler in 1945 and is closely related to Duringlanis perugiae. Few pictures of this species exist and only recently have collections in the area been possible due as travel to the area was unsafe. A more detailed account of the trip will be made possible in a future magazine of Amazonas. Please subscribe to this wonderful magazine if you have not already by visiting their website at: https://www.amazonasmagazine.com/
Our collecting group was successful in finding this species in the Rio Caqueta region and bringing them back to the U.S., perhaps for the first time? Even more exciting is that we have the first fry of this species. This is likely a world first spawning event! With that, we share below some of the first photos of this species settled in the aquarium. As you can see, this species is quite nice and each fish has a different design. In the near future, we hope to be able to make this species available to avid catfish enthusiasts. Stay tuned to this website for more updates!
