I thought I'd share a bit of a photo essay I've compiled about the P. salousi program being run by the Stuart M Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund.
One of the exciting aspects of my recent trip to Malawi was seeing firsthand, and playing a tiny part in, the salousi captive breeding program. Pseudotropheus salousi, a fish well known in the aquarium hobby, used to be found in large numbers on Taiwanee Reef in Lake Malawi.
As with a lot of Malawi species, salousi are endemic to a very small area. Taiwanee Reef is a large reef, but much of it is in very deep water. The shallower areas where P. salousi live – where they can find the algae they feed on – is around the size of quarter of a football ground. It takes no more than a few minutes to swim around. Salousi are found nowhere else. A population restricted to such a small area is very vulnerable. Ten years ago they could be found here in large numbers – sometimes in schools of hundreds of individuals. They have suffered badly at the hands of unscrupulous collectors, to the point that on a swim around the reef now, only a handful of individuals can be located.
A program was set up by the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund to catch a limited number of fish from the reef and use these to raise captive-bred juveniles for re-release.
The first juvis from the program were released in September 2013. Although several hundred fry had been raised that year, only a handful survived a cold spell over winter, meaning only 32 individuals were available for the first release. There are more details of the project, photos and video of Ad Konings undertaking the release at the following link http://www.cichlidpress.com/smgfund/smgfund23.html
So – some details about the breeding program and the second release in Sept 2014. The breeding is being undertaken at the Stuart M Grant Ltd premises at Senga Bay, Malawi. The wild caught salousi were originally placed in a temporary pond while work was done installing shade cloth over the larger outdoor ponds. The temporary pond is an old concrete boat situated amongst the outside vats used for holding fish for export. Later the salousi were moved to a larger pond, but it was found they didn’t fare as well, so they have been returned to the boat. This is where we saw them.
Edited by humbug, 01 October 2014 - 09:14 PM.
