Psycho kid

Juvenile fish often are not exact look-a-likes of their parents. Instead they show completely different coloration and behavior. Why? Mostly because it can be beneficial for the kids not to look like their parents. Many fish consider any fish with pigmentation; a color pattern and a body shape similar to their own as competitive.  So, being young, lean and mean juveniles often opt for an outfit which does not resemble the wardrobe of the adults of their species. Looking nothing like your parents increases the chance adults will tolerate your presence (and maybe even your behavior) in their territory. 

Adult Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) show yellow and blue stripes on their sides; white, black and yellow coloration around the head; a mask across the eyes and a bright yellow caudal fin. Does the image of the young specimen I painted look like the adults at all? Nope; juvenile Emperors have a dark blue almost black base color with light blue and white lines which form vertical stripes and concentric circles on their flanks. The development of the pigmentation (and stripe) pattern in juvenile Angelfish has been studied (e.g. Painter, Maini & Othmer, 1999); proving the consistency of the formation of the stripings, starting with two vertical lines and developing into a more or less psychedelic pattern (as in the young Emperor I copied in paint). 

The 'special outfit' in some juvenile Angelfish (i.e. Pomacanthus paru in  Sazima, Moura & Sazima, 1999) has been proven to be an advertisement for their specialization: 'cleaning' fish. So, beside enabling them to live close to their parents; the juvenile coloration also is a significant signal to warn other fish:"Hey there! I can clean you!". A great way to obtain a free meal. And, last but not least, an additional warning to predators: "Hey there, I will clean you, don't eat me!"
Have you ever? Psycho kids that do clean their room!

References
Sazima, Ivan; Rodrigo L. Moura & Cristina Sazima (1999): Cleaning activity of juvenile Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru, on the reefs of the Abrolhos Archipelago, Western South Atlantic. - Environmental Biology of Fishes, Dec.1999, Volume 56, Issue 4: 399-407. 

Painter, K.J.; P.K. Maini & H.G. Othmer (1999): Stripe formation in juvenile Pomacanthus explained by a generalized mechanism with chemotaxis. - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), May 1999, 96 (10): 5549-5554. 

Original artwork available:

Prints of the artwork in this blog can be ordered at my printshop in full and in detailed version (without the white borders).

Der Hans

Peacock cihlids are some of the most beloved fish in the aquariumhobby. This species, Aulonocara baenschi, was named for a man whose family contributed a lot to this hobby; in all kinds of ways .Hans Albrecht Baensch (September 10, 1941 - November 2, 2016) worked for his father's company: Tetra GmbH. That's right, Ulrich Baensch was the 'inventor' of Tetramin. He was the first to market universal dry food (or staple food) for the aquariumtrade. No matter how many brands have flooded the aquariumtrade; I am sure every aquarist has used his products at least once.

Hans Baensch worked and traveled around the world for Tetra. But he is best remembered by his publications. In 1977 he founded Mergus Verlag, home of the famous Aquarium Atlas which nowadays has 26 volumes including books on fresh and salt water; garden ponds; terrariumhobby and fossils. In the first edition of the Atlas (1985) M.K. Meyer and R. Riehl described this greatlooking yellow and blue Peacock Cichlid, which they hamed for Hans Baensch. In 1987 Meyer, Riehl and Zetzsche named another cichlid in his honor: Aulonocara hansbaenschi; however this species has been synonimsed by Konings (2016) with A. stuartgranti; named for another well known man in the aquariumhobby, especially amongst cichlidophiles.

References
Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke and R. van der Laan (eds) (2018): 'Catalog of Fishes: genera, species, references. - Version of 2 March, 2018.
Konings, A. F.  (2016): Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat. -  Cichlid Press, El Paso (TX), 5th Edition: 1-447.

The original is for sale:

The artworks in this blog can be ordered at my printshop. The painting (sand and acrylics on canvas) is available in full (as pictured above) or in detail (without the white borders).

Fish in space

Science Fiction stories and, as we speak, Fantasy stories too, often include bizarre creatures which readers believe to have derived from the author's mind; whereas many of these exotic animals in fact are based on species that once lived, or are still living, on good old planet Earth. The world of wildlife is beyond imagination and provides an incredible variety of lifeforms useable to any writer. Yep, an endless goldmine of inspiration.

Besides the living creatures themselves; their names also provide inspiration. The huge number of species is organized and described by scientists.  And oh, what fun they have! Describing new species scientists come up with fantastic names. I have kindly used one of these names, Celestichthys, as the name of a space vessel in a short SF story I recently finished (´Innerverse´). Celestichthys, meaning ´heavenly fish´, is a name especially composed for a gorgeous little fish, described as Celestichthys margaritatus, which has become very popular in the aquarium trade as Celestial Pearl Danio, CPD in short, and is also known as Galaxy Rasbora, Fireworks Rasbora and several more vernacular and even pseudo scientific names. Described in 2007, this species profited from the hype in aquaristics: Nano Cubes. Small aquariums designed for small fish and invertebrates. The impressive name of Celestichthys didn't stand for a long time. In 2008 Conway replaced the tiny, hardly 2.5 cm long fish with its dark blue body, covered with multiple yellow-white spots, into the genus Danio.

Alas, rumor had it, the small beauties were imported in such large numbers they had become extinct in their natural habitat, isolated small, heavily vegetated pools at the foot of a mountain near Hopong town 30km south of Taunggyi in Myanmar. And, alas again, nothing travels the internet as fast as rumors. Luckily this cyberspace confusion soon appeared to be untrue. Facts and figures were based on supposed data; fantasies if you like. Fiction lost this battle from reality: instead of living in a restricted area the Galaxy Rasbora is now known to occur in waters associated with the Salween (or Thanlwin) River throughout Shan (Myanamar) and even across the border in northern Thailand. 

Why did I use this name in a SF story? I have known the Galaxy Rasbora almost from the moment it was introduced in the aquariumhobby. I had the pleasure of keeping and breeding them for several years, being one of the first breeders in Europe. Despite their small size they are fun to keep. Even in community tanks, provided the aquarium is not overpopulated, juveniles will soon pop up. As I was writing this SF story, I was in need of a name for a space cruiser. Celestichthys came to my mind; after finishing the story I was even more convinced I had chosen wisely. Even considered it to be the title of the story for a while, but... eh; once you have read my twisted tale you will understand why I have chosen differently.

References
Conway, K. W., W.-J. Chen and R. L. Mayden (2008): The "Celestial Pearl danio" is a minature Danio (s.s.) (Ostariophysi: Cyprinidae): evidence from morphology and molecules. -  Zootaxa No. 1686: 1-28.

Roberts, Tyson R.  (2007): The "Celestial Pearl Danio", a new genus and species of colourful minute cyprinid fish from Myanmar (Pisces: Cypriniformes). - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Vol. 55 (no. 1): 131-140.

Original artwork available:

Prints of the artwork in this blog can be ordered at my printshop in full and in detailed version (without the white borders).

Sticks and stones

'Sticks and Stones', acrylics and sand on canvas. Original painting 20x20cm).

Last Spring my family and I visited ‘Blijdorp’ (Rotterdam Zoo). Thanks to a new outbreak of bird flu, the aviary behind the giraffes was left empty. Thus we were forced to view the empty bird house with different eyes. And yes, my eyes wander quickly towards water parties. Water with small fish in it: sticklebacks. The gray-colored females remained at the water surface, the colorful males were hurrying back and forth along the bottom. An old love blossomed again. At home I took out my modest collection of fossil fish, knowing there had to be a fossil stickleback in there. A species from the North American Nevada desert that I had ordered via the Internet a couple of years ago. Few fossil finds are known in Europe; in the Netherlands (near the city of ‘Tegelen’), only one dorsal spine of Gasterosteus aculeatus has been found (Gaudant, 1979). 

Drawing below, top: Gasterosteus doryssus (artists's impression the way this fish probably looked like in real life); middle G. aculeatus (Three Spine Stickleback) bottom Pungitius pungitius (Nine Spine Stickleback). Scale bar 10mm.

The deposition along our former Dutch coast unfortunately was not suitable for complete fossilisation of fish. The Nevada desert was. Fossil sticklebacks have been found near Hazen (Lahontan Beds). Of course, dinohunters prefer to dig the ground to find large reptiles; small fish are literally and figuratively bycatch. Yet one has found a remarkable series of fossil sticklebacks at these quarries; specimens of the species Gasterosteus doryssus exposed in a number of layers of sediment on the site, representing a consecutive period of no less than 30,000 years stickleback evolution. Researcher Michael Bell ( Bell et al . 1989 ) has shown that ten million years ago over a period of several thousand years the sticklebacks sometimes had pelvic fins with large spines and sometimes no or only minimal pelvic fins. More recently research has shown that in Canada, Iceland and England, some populations, which have migrated from salt to fresh water for a longer period of time, still can lose those genes causing the pelvic fins to disappear (Bell et al . 2004 , Shapiro et al . 2004). The extensive study by Michael Bell is worth reading anyway. An interesting study of one of the most studied fish in the world! 
Oh and if you want to see ‘my’ fossils, they are now part of the collection of The Museum of Natural History (NMR 9979-1818). Specimens with pelvic fins and (be careful!) spines...

Also read my blog (Words and Vision - Behind the scenes) which includes a link to the original publication and news about my upcoming catalog on fossil Cyprinodonts.

References

Bell, M.A., 1994 - Paleobiology and evolution of three spine stickleback - in: Bell, M.A. & Foster, S. - The evolutionary biology of the three spine stickleback - Oxford University Press, New York. (Read this book - as PDF - for free online).

Bell, M.A., Aquirre, W.E. & Buck, N.J., 2004 - Twelve years of contemporary armor evolution in a threespine stickleback population - Evolution 58: 814-824

Bell, M.A., Wells, C.E. & Marshall, J.A., 1989 - Mass-mortality layers of fossil stickleback fish: catastrophic kills of polymorphic schools - Evolution 43: 607-619

Gaudant, J., 1979 - L'ichthyofaune tiglienne de Tegelen (Pays-Bas): signification paléoécologique et paléoclimatique - Scripta Geologica 50: 1-16 

Shapiro, M.D., Marks, M.E., Peichel, C.L., Blackman, B.K., Nereng, K.S., Jónsson, B., Schluter, D. & Kingsley, D.M., 2004 - Genetic and developmental basis of evolutionary pelvic reduction in threespine sticklebacks - Nature 428: 717-723

Additional information: the short documentary 'Making of the fittest'on You Tube.

The artworks in this blog can be ordered at my printshop. The painting (sand and acrylics on canvas) is available in full (as pictured above) or in detail (without the white borders); the drawing of the three species (without scale bar) is available in black and white and full color.

Poisson d'Avril

April Fool's Day is celebrated in many countries all over the world. In France,and some other French speaking countries, children will try to put a drawing of a fish upon your back. In other countries people will try to fool you by making you belief something is real while it's not.

On April 1st many photos are made showing remarkable, new discovered fish, like the Elephant Tang on the photo (left). Of course these photos are made for fun. Sometimes however, these jokes become a bit too serious. The German aquarist society DKG (Deutsche Killifisch Gemeinschaft) published a description of a new species in their magazine of April 1983. Although the description included a funny picture of a smiling fish (in fact the article ends emphasizing the special, distinguishing feature of the species is the upcurled mouth... a fake smile) and the remarkable names of the scientists who described the fish (Falsehood & Deceit, sic!); features which should have raised some questions, or at least some doubt. But even reknown aquarists were fooled. The species was included in the well known 1987 edition of 'Süsswasserfische der Welt' (Freshwater Fishes of the World) of German aquarist Günther Sterba. Thus the non existing species had suddenly become a true species of science!

The fish I have painted is an existing species, Aphyosemion australe. However; it is a fancy variety developed in 1957 by a German fish breeder Hjerresen. If hobbyists would have followed the system of plants it's name should be Aphyosemion australe var. Hjerresen. Instead of this simple system, the name Aphyosemion hjerreseni has been used, A name which is not valid according the rules of the ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature), yet leading to confusion about its origin. In the aquarium trade this fish is sold as Orange or Gold Lyretail. Its natural ancestor unfortunately received another fancy name 'Cap Lopez'. I guess people like to be fooled...

Click here for the full description.

S.O.S. SIX

June 17, 2016 the second 'Nemo' film will be released: 'Finding Dory'. People within the aquarium industry already are getting nervous. Due to the popularity of Nemo - after the release of the first Nemo-film the sales of Clownfish raised with 25% - it is expected that Dory also will become high in demand.

Amphiprion ocellaris, Nemo's scientific name, is one of the most succesful marine fishes bred in captivity. Numerous color strains have been developed, making wild caught specimens almost unnecessary. 
Commercial breeding of the funny Dory, Paracanthus hepatus, has thusfar not succeeded. In Indinesia juveniles are caught and raised in cages along the coast. These specimens are sold as 'Captive Raised'. The young fish are exported when they reach a length of 4-5 cm (approx. 1-2"). If the demand for Dory will raise as expected, catching wild specimens may cause problems to the natural population. SAIA (Sustainable Aquarium Industry Association, a cooperation of trade and hobbyists, therefor already started a campaign to inform the public about the situation of Dory in the wild. 
Number six, as the fish, due to the remarkable pattern on the dorsal area, is called in Indonesia, deserves anyones attention. 


Please take a look at the SAIA site for more details on this subject, or watch the video above: 'Searching for Letter 6'. 

To create awareness on the situation I created a special artwork "S.O.S.-6". Collectible and valuable artworks which will be available in limited numbers. Artwork and additional merchandise (cards; mugs and Tees) are now offered on Kickstarter. 
Dory may forget everything...you shouldn't. Remind Dory!

Spitting image

A public aquarium without a couple of Archerfish is like a Zoo without elephants and monkees. And I’ve got to admit, their interesting behavior makes these fish very appealing. At feeding time many people will gather at the aquarium with Archerfish to see how these magnificent fish are spitting insects from branches above the water. Once an insect is hit, it falls in the water and…bon appetit! Although it must be said that in many cases the archer itself is not the one who gets the reward. Other fish will profit from fallen insects just as easy. That’s life.

As early as 1767 the first Archerfish was described as Scieana jaculatrix. In 1816 the genus Toxotes was created. The situation around this first description has only recently been clarified by Kottelat (2013). He had found the description of Cuvier, published in November 1816 and always accepted to be the first author, to be following an earlier description, mentioned in a supplement only, by Cloquet in October 1816. Credit where credit is due, even though it took 200 years.

The genus Toxotes has subsequently welcomed new members. Nowadays eight species are considered to be valid. All of them living in marine habitats, or brackish waters, from India to Australia. Most of them share an almost identical coloration:
Toxotes blythii Boulenger, 1892. Clouded or Zebra Archerfish, from Myanmar.
Toxotes chatareus (Hamilton 1822). Spotted Archerfish, from India to northern Australia.
Toxotes jaculatrix (Pallas 1767). Banded Archerfish, from Indo West Pacific.
Toxotes kimberleyensis Allen 2004. Kimberley’s Archerfish, from Western Australia.
Toxotes lorentzi Weber 1910. Primitive Archerfish, from Australia and Guinea.
Toxotes malaccensis Cantor 1849. from Malaysia.
Toxotes microlepis Günther 1860. Smallscale Archerfish, from Southeastern Asia.
Toxotes oligolepis Bleeker 1876. Western Archerfish, from Indonesia.

Several more species have been described but are considered synonym to one of the species mentioned above. Interesting to mention here is T. microlepis from Sitang River, Myanmar. Described by Blyth, 1860, who was unaware of T. microlepis from Thailand described by Gunther in the same year. Blyth’s microlepis is now considered synonym to T. blythii.  

A family known for such a long time usually includes a few peculiar misidentifications. So does Toxotes. A specimen described as Toxotes squamosus, by Hutton in 1875, was synonimised by Mead (1972) with Brama brama, a completely different type of fish (also known as Pomfrets).

It should be said, that even though Archerfish are excellent shooters, they are also very good jumpers. As shown on the photo, they are capable of picking insects from leaves above the water.

Reprints and cards from the images above, but also  the mugs pictured underneath (as well as T-shirts, cards and more merchandise) are available at my printshop. Mugs and merchandise are available with the text 'Spit on it!'; 'Spit it out!' and 'Spitting image'.