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Aqualognews NUMBER 38 8

Verlag:

Verlag A.C.S.GmbH

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Verlag A.C.S.GmbH,

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All r ights reserved.The publishers do not a ccept

liability for unsolicited man uscripts or

photograph s.Art icles writ ten by named autho rs

do not necessarily represent the editorsop inion.

impressum

Herausgeber: Ulrich Glaser,sen.

Chefredakteur/Editor: Dipl.-Biol. Frank Schfer

Redaktionsbeirat: Dipl.Ing.agr.Gregor Beckmann

Dr.med.vet.Markus Biffar

Ulrich Glaser,sen.

Dipl.-Biol.Uwe Krger

Translations: Mary Bailey

Layout: Bettina Kirsch

Gestaltung: Gaby Gei,Bro fr Grafik,Ffm

Druck: Societts-Druck,Mrfelden-Walldorf

gedruckt am: 30.01.2001Anzeigendisposition: AQUALOG Verlag GmbH

ISSN 1430-9610

for the German issue the English issue beginning with issue no.

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the green plants (Producers), below

them,it seems logical that any feeding

adaptations they possess should be

finely adapted to the job they have to

do, i. e. to consume plants.The same,

obviously, applies to Secondary,

Tertiary and other Consumers.Some

of these adaptations are internal and

cannot, therefore, be easily observed.

However, the external ones can, and

much of their language is available

for interpretation by us, as aquarists,

From page 2:Language of Fishes

the Panaques or Sucker Catfishes

(Panaque spp.).

A considerably rarer fish is Euchilichthys

guentheri.Yet,despite its rarity,there can

be little doubt concerning either the

level at which it feeds (and in which it

lives) or the nature of its diet.In common

with all its better-known counterparts,

Euchilichthys has a downward-pointing

sucker-type mouth which clearly

indicates that it is predominantly a solid

substrate feeder.

The Latest Up-Date for

Your AQUALOG-books!

supplement no.12 for

Loricariidae:all L-Numbers

(article no.S01-12)

supplement no.1 for

all Livebearers(article no.S09-1)

supplement no.4 for

South American Cichlids II

(article no.S03-4)

The three new supplements:

qualreferencefishoftheworld

A og

At your pet shop!

animalbook.deSchubertstr.12

D-63303 Dreieich/Germany

phone: +49(0)6106-697977fax: +49(0)6106-697983

e-mail: info@animalbook.de

These supplements and a lot more on the general topic of animals at

of these will, obviously, have surfaces

which are not parallel to the bottom of

the stream or river in which the fish are

found.

Take a submerged branch,for example.

It may well have parts of its top surface

lying parallel to the bottom.The same

could apply to parts of the underside,

but these would be upside-down in

relation to the bottom and would

require a fish to feed at this apparently

unusual angle.Protuberances,plus the

curvature of the branch itself,would

provide other surfaces facing in as

many directions as there are degrees in

a compass.

What a suckermouth tells us is that,as

long as the fish can hang on, it can

attach itself to a surface,irrespective of

whether it is aligned with the bottom

of the stream or not.If that were not so,

then it would be impossible for Algae

Eaters to cling to the sides of an

aquarium as they so often do. They

would simply fall off and this they

most certainly do not do!

Efficient Pads

A suckermouth does not,however,tell

us what diet a fish has.To find essential

clues concerning this,we have to look

at other features,particularly the teeth.

Their number, shape and distribution

all carry important messages.The fish

mentioned above all exhibit several

shared characteristics. For instance,

they all possess numerous small teeth

arranged in pad-like groups which can

be made to lie flat against a chosen

surface simply by resting the mouth

against that surface and operating the

sucker mechanism.In some ways,each

tooth sacrifices a little bit of its

individuality,depending for efficiency

on how well the pads work as units.

An appreciation of just how efficient

such an arrangement can be for

scraping encrustations off a surface

can be gained by comparing these

tooth pads with a magnetic algae

cleaner. These aquarium accessories

consist of two magnets, one covered

with a smooth textile surface which is

placed against the outside of the

aquarium, and another covered in

small, rigid, closely packed plastic

teeth.This second magnet is pressed

on to the inside surface of the

aquarium and kept in place by the

attraction,through the glass,between

the two magnets. As the external

magnet is moved up and down, it

glides over the glass, without

scratching it. The internal magnet,

obviously, mirrors the movements of

the external one and,as it does so,its

teeth scrape off any encrustations

which there might be on the internal

surface of the glass.Transfer this notion

to the world of Algae Eaters,Plecos and

Panaques and the beauty of their

mouthparts immediately becomesobvious.

Plant Croppers

The vast majority of encrustations

scraped off by these fish are,obviously,

algae. However, many microscopic

organisms,such as certain species of

Protozoan (single-celled animals), are

known to live among encrusting algae.

Algae-scraping species may,therefore,

passively supplement their vegetable

diet with a small, but regular, input of

animal matter.The same could be said

of other predominantly herbivorous

species, e.g. the various Mollies

(Poeci l ia sphenops, P. la t ip inna , etc.)

which spend a great deal of time

cropping algae in a similar way to their

terrestrial equivalents, cows, sheep,

zebras and the like.

Despite the huge,obvious differences

between a cow and a Molly,they both

exhibit remarkable similarities in the

form of their plant-cropping equip-

ment. Basically, what is required is a

system consisting of two straight

edges which can be brought together,

almost like a pair of pincers, at right

angles to the vegetation which needs

to be cut. If you look at the feeding

arrangements possessed both by cows

and Mollies,you find precisely this.And

the similarities dont end there,either.

Mollies and many of their relatives have straight-edged mouths which are excellent for cropping

vegetation.(S63790) photo:F.Teigler/A.C.S.archives

Internal Arrangement

Internally, herbivores must have a

digestive system capable of extracting

the maximum amount of nourishment

from their relatively poor-quality food,

with its hard-to-digest cellulose cell

walls. Such a situation demands that

ingested plant matter be made to

travel the longest possible distance

along the digestive tract.

It will come as no surprise,therefore,to

discover that herbivores,be they horses

or Algae Eaters, possess long, convol-

uted guts.This characteristic is so typical

that it is quite possible to make state-

ments concerning the diet of a fish,even

if the only evidence available is a pre-

served specimen of unknown identity.

I referred earlier to the possible

passive intake of animal matter by

herbivores.Passive or not,some might

argue that such fish should not be

regarded as strict herbivores at all,but

as partial predators. However, the

label of predator is normally reserved

for those species which actively hunt

for their food.

through direct observation. By far the

best-known herbivorous fish available

to hobbyists are the Chinese Algae Eater

(Gyrinocheilus aymonieri), the various

Plecos (Hypostomus, Glyptoperichthys

and Liposarcus spp.), the Bristlenosed

Catfishes (e. g. Ancistrus spp.) and

I hesitate to use the term bottom

feeder because the crucial point is that

the orientation of the mouth shows that

it is designed to be in contact with solid

surfaces.These could be rocks, leaves,

exposed underwater roots or branches,

or any other submerged objects.Some

The most beautiful L-Numbers

by U. Glaser sen.

ISBN-Nr.3-931702-34-0

You can obtain this book at

animalbook.de

Loricariidae

die schnsten L-Welse

TI P

Important

information by

specialists on

care +breeding

of these

fascinating

fishes.(48 pages,

many colour

photos,as well

on the attachedposter)

Ratgeber+Pos

ter

exzellenteFarb

bilder

Pflegeanleitung

vomFachman

n

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animalbook.deSchubertstr. 12,D-63303 Dreieich/Germany

fax: +49(0)6106-697983

phone: +49(0)6106-697977fax: +49(0)6106-697983

e-mail: info@animalbook.de

These books and many more on the general topic of animals at

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D-63303 Dreieich/Germany

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