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The June 2004 edition of Practical Fishkeeping features another article by the Mexican Cichlidophile, Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. However, his latest journey took him not to his native Mexico, but to Belize. Apparently inspired by an account of an expedition to Belize by one Jean Claude Nourrisat, Azas wanted to find a special place mentioned in Nourrisat's account, called White Water Lagoon. And, although he only made the trip once, accompanied by a friend called Ad Konings, he discovered a place that, remarkably, remained almost untouched by humans except for native fishing activities (for food). Whether it still remains pristine I have yet to find out, but, if ever a place deserved to be designated an area of world importance for conservation, White Water Lagoon is it.

White Water Lagoon is a difficult place to reach. Originally, it was only accessible by river (via brownish-water marsh lagoons forming part of the Hondo River Basin, then the clear-water Labouring Creek), but Azas discovered that one of the locals had found an alternative route via a logger's path, followed by a 45-minute jungle hike. Which was not without its hazards - the jungle path (an illegal poacher's path) had been hand-cleared by machete, and the cut vegetation was razor sharp. Azas ended up with several 3 inch spines from a cut tree lodged in his arm, one of which became a sort of permanent souvenir of the trip as it became too deeply embedded in his flesh to remove!

Prior to this jungle hike, Azas performed a somewhat perfunctory survey of the fish life of the Hondo River Basin. This included Cchlasoma salvini (a population variant in which the females show very little abdominal red colouration), Cichlasoma urophthalmus, Vieja synspila, Cryptoheros spilurus, Belonesox belizanus, Poecilia kikkerii and large shoals of Astanax aeneus. Azas did not dive in these waters, for one very good reason - one of the other inhabitants, which he had been forewarned about, is a crocodile species known as Crocodylus moreletii, which grows to 5 metres and is regarded as dangerous to humans!

White Water Lagoon itself, and the connecting Labouring Creek, is the home of an unusual population of Vieja synspila, a red colour morph, along with more Astyanax aeneus (which present an egg piracy threat to any Cichlids that are less than relentlessly watchful!), large specimens of Petenia splendida (again, for some reason, a red colour morph!), a large catfish called Ictalurus furcatus which is a valued food fish among the locals, more Cichlasoma salvini and Cryptoheros spilurus, now joined by Firemouth Cichlids, Thorichthys meeki, and a Guapote - Parachromis friedrichstalii. Also present is the Mayan Tetra, Hyphessobrycon compressus, the most northerly representative of the Genus. Remarkably, the water visibility is 10 metres (contrasting sharply with the turbid waters of the nearby Hondo River Basin, in which the crocodiles lurk ...) and the vegetation includes veritable underwater forests of Vallisneria gigantea that attain a height of 2 metres!

Azas managed to secure some photographs, featuring among other fishes, a breeding pair of Firemouths, one of the 'red-loss' female Cichlasoma salvini with fry, and a male specimen of the red morph of Vieja synspila in breedin colours. Sadly, he was unable to photograph the pair of Parachromis friedrichstalii with a large clutch of fry, as they saw him and disappeared into the Vallisneria gigantea forests before he could aim the camera! But being able to see them at all was a rare and magical event - given the adeptness with which Guapotes are capable of avoiding potential large predators (including non-predatory snorkel divers with cameras that probably look like mutant crocs to the fish!), Azas may be the only person on the entire planet to have seen this sight to date.

This sighting, of course, leads to some interesting aquarium speculation. Would a stand of Vallisneria gigantea survive in an aquarium containing Parachromis Guapotes? Perhaps some of the Jaguar Cichlid keepers might like to try this out if they have the space and the facilities to do so ... after all, if they use Vallisneria gignatea for cover in the wild, and we now have an account of at least one of the Guapotes doing this, then it's worth experimenting to see if big plants will survive the big Cichlids.

So, if there is anyone on the Board who fancies a spot of exploring, has the funds to get there, and doesn't mind sleeping in tents beside marshes harbouring who knows what kinds of mosquito (carrying who knows what lethal diseases into the bargain!), hunting down White Water Lagoon could be the answer to that nagging bout of wanderlust. Keep an eye out for the crocodiles in the Hondo River Basin, and when you get there, enjoy the Cichlid fauna! Oh, and if anyone can bring back a decent bag of Mayan Tetras, let me know as I've never seen these things 'live', and wouldn't mind the chance to photograph them!



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Good article. I enjoy reading about those trips, lot's of stories on the net, usually with pics.. At the Amazon. Wouldn't be too eager to dive in there either with the piranhas and caymen

The Amazon Nut...