NEWS102
33
Awaous lateristriga
is abeautiful African freshwater goby.
water, and are only occasionally reported
from brackish regions as well. The wide
distribution and the occurrence on islands
can be explained by the fact that the tiny
larvaeof the speciesdevelop in the seaand
drift longdistanceswiththemarinecurrents.
Thisspecialized reproductivebiologymakes
breeding in the aquarium very difficult, as
we lack suitable foodorganismswithwhich
to feedthe larvaeduringtheirmarinephase.
Even so, reports of successful breeding are
published occasionally. The following data
relate to the related species A. flavus from
South America, which is so attractive that
aquarists have already attempted to breed
it.Thesegobies are cave-spawners, and the
veryunderdeveloped larvaehatchafteronly
around 12-13 hours.At this time their eyes
are hardly developed at all and they float
through the water in a typical head-down
position.After four to fivedays theyassume
ahorizontalswimmingposition,theeyesare
now fullydeveloped,andthe little fishescan
begin to take food.At this point theymust
without fail be transferred to full-strength
seawater, as otherwise theywill inevitably
die.Maintenanceof the larvae ispossibleat
asalinityof1.018upwards.The larvaecanbe
transferred straight from fresh to seawater
without fearof thembeingharmed.
Themaintenanceof the larvae in seawater
should continue for up to 20 days. During
this period the larvae grew and apparently
took food, though it wasn’t entirely clear
exactly what they are eating. They were
given rotifers (
Brachionus)
; cultures for
breedingsuch rotiferscanbeobtained from
specialist aquarium dealers. The rotifers
were fed on micro-algae in the rearing
aquarium. Hence it is conceivable that the
goby larvae also consumed the algae or
unidentified ciliates that developed. For
further details see the very interesting
reportbyNaomiDelventhal at
.
But even if you don’t breed them, these
fishes are very interesting to maintain in
theaquariumas,likeallgobies,theyexhibit
a wide spectrum of behavior. When
maintaining them it is important to
providea substrateof fine sand,which the
fishes will sift with great enthusiasm for
food particles. Water parameters are of
subordinate importance, though the
temperature should be in the 22-26 °C
range. These fishes have large appetites
and will take all the usual foods.
A.
lateristriga
arepeaceful among themselves
and towardsother fish species.
