APRIL 2006 VOLUME 15 ISSUE 4 NEXT MONTH S MTG: MAY 7 April 2 nd Meeting The Wild Side of Bettas A Presentation by Steve Ehrlich The names do not roll off the tongue with the ease of long-time use, the comfort of familiarity. The family is Belontiidae (that was a surprise to me I thought it was Anabantoidae), the subfamily is Macropodinae, but most of us look no farther than the principal genus name: Betta. With the incredible design work done to create the iridescent crepe de chine fins of the Betta splendens, few look beyond that famous Siamese fighting fish. That preconception of these labryinth fish costs us an exploration or even an awareness of the many beautiful and interesting Bettas that Nature has created. Steve Ehrlich will be giving us some examples of what we re missing: fish such as Betta akarensis and B. balunga from Northern Borneo, Zhou Hang 2004 SPECIES PROFILE Rasbora einthovenii 2 AQUASCAPING THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE 7 SUMMARY OF MARCH MEETING 2 KID S CORNER A HIDDEN PICTURES PUZZLE 8 ANNOUNCEMENTS; FOR SALE 3 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 9 REVENGE ON S. PAHANG, MALAYSIA by Zhou Hang 4 WHEN AND WHERE WE MEET 9 MEMBERSHIP NEWS 7 FISH OF ENDAU RIVER DRAINAGE SYSTEM 2 http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 1 OF 10
which can reach a length of seven inches; B. burdigala, B. coccina, and B. persephone with their rich russet, burnt orange and apricot coloring; the ivory and tan Betta fusca with chocolate stripes and metallic baby-blue highlights, caudal rays, and ventral fins. We re really missing bettas like Betta enisae with its orange-gold latigo-leather colored body and fins rimed in turquoise blue and black, and operculi tiled in a mosaic of peacock green. There are bubble nesters and mouthbrooders, big ones and little ones, plain brown ones and breathtakingly beautiful jewel-toned ones, shiny ones and sueded ones. They live in habitats of stagnant evaporating pools or fast flowing streams, mountain heights or drainage ditches, bare sandy bottoms or underwater forests. Check out some of the species photos on http://photobucket.com/albums/v81/mrtree/labyrinth%20fish/betta/ then come listen to Steve and find out whether or not bettas have been quietly waiting to become your next obsession. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Answer to hidden picture puzzle Other fishes besides bettas live in the area Zhou Hang explored is Southern Pahang. In Zoological Studies 38(3): 350-366 (1999), Heok-Hee Ng (E-mail: scip7116@leonis.nus.edu.sg, Fax: 65-7792486) and Heok-Hui Tan of the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore reported the fish they found in the Endau River drainage system. In addition to identifying two new species of catfish, they found that several fish thought to exist only north of the area had a range extending farther south than anyone expected. There is a listing on page 10 of some of the fish they found; the article cited also lists the rivers from which fish were collected or observed and other pertinent data. Included in the article are distinguishing characteristics of new species and changes to genus names. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Summary of March Meeting An incredible film, superb chili, friends we don t often get to see. March Program: Brian Downing ordered William Heijn s remarkable film, Cichlids of the Craters, all the way from Holland and was sitting on pins and needles as the day of the club meeting drew closer without any package showing up. Finally, it was delivered, with a half a day to spare. The film proved to be worth the anxious wait. Brian played it through our new digital projector so that it displayed on the movie screen in crisp focus and large enough for all to enjoy. Photographed by Heijns and Ad Konings and showing the cichlids in lakes that formed around the volcanic craters of Nicaragua, the film provided varied and clear detail of behaviour and habitat, as well as tidbits about diet, breeding preferences, survival pressures, and cohabitants. Tom Varin brought a veritable cauldron of homemade chili with meat and beans, toned down, as he says, to be just a bit hot. Ordinarily, he says, his chili is known as self-heating. The batch he brought for us was http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 2 OF 10
incredibly good and very nearly worth coming to a fish meeting for, all by itself. From conversations later in the meeting, I inferred Tom is into competitive chili if so, he s got to be a winner. Long term members that don t get to come often anymore were a pleasure to see this meeting. Chuck Mateo, Janice Hazeltine, Bill Moreno, and Frank Chang were all able to attend this month. Poor Frank it seemed every board member who stopped by to say hello also reminded him his membership was past due, not knowing he had taken care of it the instant he arrived. Announcements: 1. Business portion of meetings starts at 1:00. Speaker Presentation starts at 1:30. We have been keeping an eye on the success of starting our speaker presentations at 1:15 p.m. sharp. Although the starting time has improved people s habits in showing up on time, this start time has left too little time for people to greet friends, get a plate of food, preview auction lots and just get settled. The president put it to a vote and the majority of the club approved of starting the meeting at 1:00 as usual, but having the speaker presentation start at 1:30 p.m. Many people come near the end of the speaker s program solely to participate in the auction, which is, of course, perfectly okay to do. The interruption of the speaker s program caused by latecomers arriving, putting new lots on the table, and initiating conversations, however, is not okay. It belittles the speaker, and it denies prospective buyers time to examine the lots. Please take a seat and wait until the end of the program before start activities when you re a latecomer. 2. Ride Pool from San Diego to Costa Mesa: Any people in the San Diego area interested in ride pooling to the meetings should contact Brian Downing. He has some space available in his car and would be happy to give a couple of people a ride. 3. Zoogeneticus tequila, the first fish in our new Species Maintenance Program, has spawned for Brian Downing and for Tom Varin. Two of Brian s fish have each given him a small batch. The fry in all spawns are keeping under cover in plants, taking baby brine shrimp and egg yolk, and growing well. 4. Mamie Nash is searching for contact information on our sponsors so she can start the raffle program again, as she is the new Corresponding Secretary this year. 6. John Skocilic has promised to donate a new laptop to the club to replace our old one, which went belly up in February. Tom Varin is donating MS Office and MS Access software for it. We hope to have it up and running in time for the April meeting; in the meantime, Ron Nash is generously using his own computer to keep the auction records and check-out on track. 7. Treasurer s report, submitted by Pauline Jackson, was accepted. Her records show the club remains financially sound and would benefit from the raffle being brought back regularly. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For Sale Two tanks and stands for sale at great prices! Ron Jackson has a 50 gallon acrylic tank with oak wooden stand and canopy for only $250. Contact him in Garden Grove at katfishron@aol.com or 714-638-8445 if you re interested. Barbara and Kirk Bean have a 540 gallon acrylic tank (8 3 3 ) on a custom steel tube stand, complete with sump and some of the equipment needed to run the tank, tank has never been used. Original price all told was over $6000; they are selling it for $2500. They are relocating, and the tank must go, as neither will have room. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 3 OF 10
An article on collecting bettas in the countryside and the forest streams Revenge on Southern Pahang, Malaysia by Zhou Hang from his website http://www.ikanpemburu.com/ from Aquarticles Endau- Rombin Natl Park Semberong R. Endau R. (City, river labels added by Showfish editor.) Endau River Drainage System Kahang R. Copyright(c)Zhou Hang 2004 Mersing Jemaluang 15th & 16th May 2004 At last I was able visit this place again. I had caught Betta waseri and Betta tussyae during my previous trip, but only one of each. This time, as well as bettas, I also hoped to find Parosphromenus nagyi (dwarf licorice gourami). Edwin, Simon and Marcus from AquaticQuotient (Singapore forum) joined me on this trip. We met early Saturday morning (I was late) and picked up a rental car in Johor Baru. Marcus was our main driver, with Edwin as the back-up. Simon was the photographer. I didn't take any pictures on Day 1, since Day 1 wasn't that interesting. This is the area we covered during the two days. On Day 1, as always, we stopped by the Cryptocoryne cordata point near Mersing, but didn't wet our nets. After some discussion during lunch at Padang Endau, we decided to move up north along the coast. Then we stopped at an abandoned paddy field somewhere around the Kampong Lebang Condong. Due to the thick vegetation it was quite difficult to obtain fish, and a Boraras maculata and a juvenile Betta imbellis were all we could find. We headed towards Kuantan on Highway 40. Sometimes we could see the South China Sea on our right-hand side, but to catch freshwater fish we had to stay away from the sea. The second point we stopped at was another paddy field. We could see a swampy forest quite far away and decided to walk to its edge, but that was a mistake. The long walk under the hot sun wasted lots of our time and stamina. When we finally reached the edge of the forest we found that the whole area was already dried up. We were tired and frustrated. We continued our journey. Soon we came to a road that turned the left. It looked good, but the small stream flowing along the road was a brackish stream. However, we kept going along, and finally found a nice blackwater stream. Obviously, professional fish collectors were collecting fish from here. While the three fellas were happy catching their favourite Puntius hexazona (six-banded barb), I bashed into the forest and found a small stream. Bingo! I managed to catch about ten Betta tussyae in a tiny pool and also two juvenile Betta waseri. We called it off. I was happy, and they were happy too! This was our hotel (top left, next page). RM80 (US$21) for a room with 1 twin bed and 2 single beds, hot shower and cool air-con. What else did we need? http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 4 OF 10
We were to cover Road 63 on Day 2. We visited the busy morning market after breakfast. Dried gouramis (probably two-spot gouramis) and kissing gouramis were sold for food. Live Pangasius sp. (catfish) were sold too. (They are farm bred, and might be hybrids.) An old man selling traditional medicines. This is the first point where we stopped in the morning. It was a pool where cows come to drink. The water didn't smell good, and I actually didn't want to wet my net. But I was soon proved wrong. We collected many fish in this tiny pool: Rasbora einthovenii (a rasbora), Boraras maculata (dwarf rasbora), Belontia hasselti (Malay combtail), Betta waseri, Betta tussyae!, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides (chocolate gourami), Betta imbellis, Kryptopterus macrocephalus (a glass catfish), swamp eels, and more. It was still very early. I already had enough Betta waseri, and could call it off anytime! So we switched our radar to Crypto-mode. As we moved on, we saw a small mountain to our right. There was a small road leading to it, and this is a small pool we found (top left, next page) which the locals use to do laundry and to bathe in. It was clear water, and only a couple rasboras were found there. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 5 OF 10
I went into the forest a little bit, and saw this Cryptocoryne on the ground. Soon the others joined me. Despite trying, we couldn't find any flowers. Many of the crypts were surviving under the damp fallen leaves. We had to remove the leaves to observe the crypts. Everything was going a little bit too smoothly. We simply got whatever we wanted. But something was missing! Paros!! Finally, something caught in my net a dead Parosphromenus nagyi! (Dwarf licorice gourami) It didn't take too long to reach a small blackwater stream. and We managed to collect Belontia hasselti, Betta waseri, Trichogaster trichopterus (blue gourami), Anabas testudineus (climbing perch), Kryptopterus macrocephalus, Boraras maculata, Rasbora einthovenii, Rasbora pauciperforata (red-stripe rasbora), Sphaerichthys sphromoides (a gourami), and Wallago leeri (a catfish)! Water parameters: ph: 4.5, KH: < 1, Temp: 26.8 C Johor Baru. I would like to thank everyone. It was great fun traveling with you guys. Endure!!!!!!!!! We went to the lower stream, which was covered with Barclaya. We collected a few more Parosphromenus nagyi and that was it! Fantastic trip! There were other streams that looked promising, but we just recorded their locations and rushed back to http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 6 OF 10
Gossip Linda Sweet, former member and Showfish editor, called friends and reported she was happily resettled in Texas. Membership News Kevin Hromin of Costa Mesa (No. 348). New Members- Welcome! Renewed- Thank You! Janice Hazeltine Frank Chang Rick, Charlotte Marelius Pam Harris Richard Lin Joshua Tenbroek One Month Past Due- This is Your Last Newsletter Alan Blum Scott Daeschner Craig Fries Martin Gee Gary Lange Wook Lim Anthony Mazeroll John, Anne Niemans Nathan Okawa Matthew Perry Alfred and Selma Paul Alberto Restreppo Elissa Ritt Phil Rodriguez Gary Chow Due in April Charles Pratt Two Months Past Due Ron, Mamie Nash Jim Tello Kenaan Tabikh - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Aquascaping Finding the focal point of your tank D F B A Bottom left side of tank floor Line AD = Line AB/2 Line CE = Line BC/2 Line segment DF = Line AD Line segment EG = Line CE X Axis Bottom front of tank floor G Focal point Y-Axis H C E A strategy of tank layout Popularized by the densely planted Dutch Aquarium style of aquascaping, the socalled golden intersection is the point where your eye seeks/ is most comfortable with visual emphasis. It can be identified with simple geometry. The diagram shows one focal point identified on the floor of the tank; four such points can be developed, which is useful for creating a path through a layout instead of a single focal point. Rectangle ABCH represents the tank floor. Draw Line AD and Line CE. Swing an arc, centered at point D and reaching point A, until it crosses Line DB. Point F is where the arc intersects Line DB. With compass centered at B and touching F, swing an arc through the tank wall. This creates the starting point of the X-axis. Use the same technique to establish point G on Line BE and swing an arc through the tank wall to create a starting point for the Y-axis. Where the X and Y axes intersect is the prime focal point. Vertical focal points can be established in this manner as well. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 7 OF 10
Kid s Corner It s never too early (or too late) to take a careful look at what s in the water. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 8 OF 10
Brian Downing John Skocilic Rahul Kumar Ron Estrada Ron Jackson Scott Kroeger Steve Ehrlich Tom Varin PRESIDENT Brian Downing brianjdowning@msn.com 858-759-4841 Board of Directors EDITOR Charlotte Marelius rcmarelius@earthlink.net 818-360-7102 VICE PRESIDENT (vacant) PROGRAM CHAIR Steve Ehrlich hedabuvh20@aol.com 310-398-4103 TREASURER John Skocilic jskoc@yahoo.com 714-225-3491 (On medical leave Pauline Jackson is filling in: imbubsie@aol.com 714-638-8445) SECRETARIES Recording: Ron Nash Corresponding: Mamie Nash coast@ronaldvnash.com 714-226-0045 WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND ADMIN Tom Varin tvarin@usa.net 714-962-8541 Rahul Kumar cichlidiot@gmail.com 310-824-1787 MEMBERSHIP AUCTION CHAIR Charlotte Marelius Ron Nash DIRECTOR Ron Estrada (email) 949-488-8082 DIRECTOR Ron Jackson katfishron@aol.com 714-638-8445 DIRECTOR Scott Kroeger skroeger9859@yahoo.com 949-701-0429 PUBLISHER Mike McCabe mccabeprint@yahoo.com 562-868-1992 AUCTIONEER Duncan Mahoney dmahoney@usc.edu 310-391-3704 When and Where the COAST Club Meets COAST meets the first Sunday of the month from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Meeting agendum: 12:30 Board Meeting 1:00 Meeting begins; general announcements 1:30 Presentation begins 2:45 Auction begins 4:15-4:30 Auction usually ends; check-out begins 5:00-5:30 Vacate the room Scheduled meeting dates are: March 5 Topic: Cichlids of the Craters August 6 Topic: TBD April 2 Topic: Bettas of the Wild September 3 Topic: TBD May 7 Topic: TBD October 1 Topic: TBD June 4 Topic: TBD November 5 Topic: TBD July 2 Topic: TBD December 3 Topic: TBD We meet at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center at 1845 Park Ave, Costa Mesa 92627; usually in the Victoria Room, alternatively in the Harper Room. The Center is a dark brick building between the fire station or library and the Lion s Park. The closest large intersection is Harbor Blvd. and 19 th Street. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 9 OF 10
Species Profile Rasbora einthovenii Einthoven s Rasbora A Slender Gold and Purple Malaysian We don t get to see much in the way of rasboras beyond the incredibly common and ubiquitous ones. Occasionally we see a scissor-tail rasbora, but for local fish stores, that s about as unique as you re going to get. Maybe this one, also known as the Brilliant Rasbora or Long Line Rasbora, is unique enough and subtly enchanting enough that some of our guys will go to Malaysia and collect it. Hint hint. As with most rasbora, its upper body is gold toned; in the right light, the scales will refract hints of abaloneshell green and blue. A thin black line, sometimes broken, runs from the mouth, through the eye, all the way to the edge of the tail. The back half of the body is a pastel purple, similar in color to a kribensis purple belly. Under stress, the fish is just another beige fish with a black line (whoopee), and is sometimes imported as a contaminant rather than a species that was ordered. The fish lives in forest streams and ponds of Thailand, Borneo, Singapore and Malaysia right along side some of the wild bettas. Their preference for breeding is for mildly acidic water (6 ot 6.5 ph) with a dh of 2 to 5, but for general keeping they can do well in neutral, moderately hard (7 or 8 dh) water. They are much more sensitive to the cleanliness of the water than the aforementioned parameters. They don t stay healthy in water that is dirty or high in dissolved organic waste. They benefit from a sandy substrate, planted, with room to chase food (be it flake or insects) and each other. Tank size: 30 gallons or more; keep in small schools. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Acanthopsoides molobrion Barbodes schwanenfeldii. Pristolepis grootii Acantopsis dialuzona Belodontichthys dinema Pseudogobiopsis oligactis Achiroides sp. Betta pugnax Pseudogobiopsis siamensis Akysis hendricksoni Brachygobius xanthomelas Pangio cuneovirgata, doriae, filanaris, Akysis microps Chaca bankanensis kuhlii, malayana, piperata, shelfordii Anabas testudineus Channa gachua Trichopsis vittata Barbodes schwanenfeldii Channa lucius Scleropages formosus Channa micropeltes, striata Neohomaloptera johorensis Silurichthys hasseltii Chela maassi Macrognathus aculeatus Sphaerichthys osphromenoides Chitala lopi, lopis Monopterus albus Sundasalanx cf. praecox Ompok hypophthalmus Mystacoleucas marginatus Tor tambra Puntius schwanenfeldii Mystus nigriceps, singaringan Systomus banksi, johorensis, Clarias batrachus, teijsmanni Pseudomystus fuscus, stenomus lateristriga, partipentazona Crossocheilus langei, oblongus Nandus nebulosus Trigonostigma heteromorpha Dangila festiva Mastacembelus erythrotaenia, favus, Vaillantella maassi Cyclocheilichthys armatus, repasson, maculatus Wallago leerii apogon Nanobagrus nebulosus Xenetodon canciloides Rasbora bankanensis, caudimaculata, cephalotaenia, dorsiocellata, dusonensis, einthovenii, elegans, gracilis, kalochroma, pauciperforata, paucisqualis, sumatrana, trilineata Dermogenys cf. pusilla Hampala macrolepidota Osphronemus goramy [gourami] Doryichthys deokhatoides, martensii Hemibagrus gracilis, nemurus Oxygaster anomalura Glossogobius giuris Notopterus aff. Chitala, notopterus Oxyleotris marmorata Glyptothorax aff. major Nemacheilus masyae, sealangoricus Pangasius sp. Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus Parachela cf. maculicauda Excerpts from The Fishes of the Endau Homaloptera nebulosa, nigra, ogilviei, orthogoniata, tweediei Osteochilus cf. enneaporos, hasseltii, microcephalus Drainage, Peninsular Malaysia with Descriptions of Two New Species of Leiocassis cf. micropogon Parakysis longirostris Catfishes (Teleostei: Akysidae, Luciocephalus pulcher Phenacostethus smithi Bagridae). The article has extensive Luciosoma setigerum Poropuntius deauratus and useful information for those interested in collecting Malaysian fish. http://www.coastfishclub.com/ MARCH 2006 PAGE 10 OF 10