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Cave Dwelling Cardinal Tetra (Eh?)

Yes, that's right. A cave dwelling Cardinal Tetra.

My six Cardinals usually shoal fairly well, although they have enough nooks and crannies to explore to allow them time to go off on their own, and of course the absence of big and predatory-looking companions means that they can safely wander about if the urge takes them.

However, one of my Cardinals is doing something odd. And has been now for over a week.

It's taken to cave dwelling.

My bogwood 'boot' on the left hand side of my aquarium is riddled with holes, most of which are prime Panda Cory real estate. Usually, it's the Pandas that occupy these little caves, which are interconnected and provide them with a playground. But just lately, one of my Cardinal Tetras has taken a liking to the caves. One cave in particular, that has a sort of 'curtain' of Java Moss partly concealing the entrance. And, it appears to be the same individual Cardinal Tetra that's doing this.

This Cardinal doesn't occupy the cave full time, it pops out and attacks live food in particular with a fair amount of relish, and I've even seen it trying to beat into submission a Bloodworm almost its own length. It almost won that fight too! However, it's developed the habit of disappearing into this cave, peeking out at the world through the Java Moss 'curtain', and looks decidedly odd when it does this. However, its time spent as a meditating hermit seems to have one positive effect - when it emerges, its colours seem especially brilliant. The red underside becomes solid, almost acrylic-airbrushed in intensity, and the upper stripe is a truly astonishing deep sapphire, sometimes appearing to shade almost to violet, and with that 'inbuilt fluorescent tube' intensity that makes the best Cardinals show stoppers in any aquarium. All my Cardinals are strongly coloured, but this one seems rejuvenated by its time spent as a cave dwelling hermit. Fish idiosyncrasies of this sort tend not to end up in the textbooks, but even so, I can't recall anyone else having a cave dwelling Cardinal to my knowledge. A bit like that Albino Bronze Cory that was showcased in Bottom Feeder Frenzy a while back that thinks it's an ostrich and buries its head in the sand (I believe the thread in question was called "Coronary Inducing Cory", because the fish in question made its owner think it was dead until it moved).

I think we should have a thread for weird fish idiosyncrasies just like this one somewhere. Meanwhile, does anyone else have Cardinals that like cave dwelling?





Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

nope i cant say i do but i mgiht have an explanation. my cardinal tetras seem to hide in the plants but only 6 come out. then when the 7th comes out it is very deep in color (as was yours) so maybe some just like hiding and it makes them feel safe enough to color up real nicely. mine has taken a liking to the plants while yours ahs taken a liking to the cave. they choose the hiding spot that they feel is best for them

One observer (if I remember correctly, it was His Holiness Herbert Axelrod himself) noted that a couple of times, to his bewilderment, he had seen in the wild a single adult Cardinal Tetra by itself apparently guarding a swarm of fry in classic Cichlid style. He had never seen any behavior like this in any other tetra. It's possible that Cardinals have a genetic degree of individuality in their behavior surpassing that of your usual mindless little schooling fish.

Ah. The same Herbert Axelrod who's reputed to be on the run from the taxman in Cuba perchance?

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Cali, perhaps you mean the same Herbert Axelrod who was caught in Germany? :%)

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Ah, an update.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Are we really talking about the same Axelrod who is the patron saint of the tropical fish industry? (I've even read a detailed profile of him in "Sports Illustrated", of all places. Apparently some of those Kuhlii Loaches take a lot of wrestling to get into the bag.)

The very same. Google's got some nice links to news items about him. Apparently the tax people want to know about what went into his Swiss bank accounts

This link is a bit polemical, but covers the essentials ...

http://www.uberhippy.com/axelrod.shtml

This link also covers the story ...

http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=23921

Enjoy ...


[span class="edited"][Edited by Calilasseia 2004-06-23 05:59][/span]

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Cave Dwelling Cardinal Update:

The fish in question appears to be male. And, I've watched him appearing to try and entice a female into the cave with him. Which leads me to ponder whether or not my Cardinals are contemplating spawning. After all, in the wild, Cardinals live in the Rio Negro, whose uppermost stretches are completely enclosed by forest canopy, and consequently all but completely cut off from light. It is as a consequence of this that Cardinal Tetra eggs have, over millions of years, become photosensitive.

Now, the cave in question is surrounded by Java Moss at its entrance, and some of the strands have actually grown into the cave. Which means that the cave, although small, could prove to be a comapct but usable 'honeymoon suite' for my Cardinal Tetras. And thus, new light is shed upon my Cardinal Tetra's cave dwelling antics. Which goes to prove, once more, that watching, observing, taking notes and being prepared to employ some thinking when encountering an odd phenomenon, pays dividends in fishkeeping. My Cardinals may never actually spawn in the cave (or anywhere else in the community aquarium for that matter) but the fact that they are exhibiting behaviour whose interpretation leads to the above conjecture is again a good sign of well-being in my aquarium.

Even though this previous odd-seeming activity has, upon further observation, acquired a rational explanation in terms of more conventional fish behaviour, the fact that this particular Cardinal Tetra took up cave dwelling in the first place, and led me to speculate upon it having possibly discovered the delights of meditation, demonstrates once more that living things can be relied upon to provide the unexpected, and in doing so not only temporarily bewilder, but sometimes enlighten the pet owner as well.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002