Tag Archives: Heros

Heros sp. Curare Bred

9. February 2022

For the first time we could import this magnificent Heros from Venezuela in 2016. The animals should originate from a Rio Curare, therefore the name; however, no Rio Curare is known to us. We suspect the Rio Ventuari as origin.

The fish are extremely colorful, otherwise everything speaks for the fact that it concerns the “genuine” Heros severus. Practically all Heros mentioned so far under this name in the hobby belong in reality to other species.

Pictures of the adult animals can be found here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/heros_sp_curare_en/

Just now we can offer offsprings of this extraordinarily pretty Heros, which are only 10-12 cm long, but already very attractive.

For our customers: the animals have code 682978 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Heros sp. Madeira

12. November 2021

The Rio Madeira is a right tributary of the Amazon River and is considered the largest tributary in the world. Its origin is in Bolivia where it is formed from the confluence of the Rio Beni and the Rio Marmoré. It flows into the Amazon in Brazil at Itacoatiara. The Rio Madeira is a white water river, purely from a geographical point of view one would expect the Heros species H. efasciatus, H. severus and H. spurius there. Concerning the dark body bands H. sp. Madeira corresponds most closely to H. efasciatus, but the coloration deviates quite considerably from the known color forms of this species. Such a pigeon blue ground color, which is already shown by juveniles and which becomes more and more intense with age, is not shown by any other Heros species known so far.

Like all Heros species this one grows well over 15 cm long, in large aquariums you can expect 5 cm more with these long-lived animals. There are known to be two brood care strategies in Heros, mouth brooding and open brooding. H. sp. Madeira is an open brooder, both parents care together for the extensive brood. In sexually mature animals, the sexes can be easily distinguished by the different facial markings; in juveniles, sex differentiation is not possible. Heros sp. Madeira originally came to Germany on private initiative; our animals are German offspring.

For our customers: the animals have code 682969 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply to wholesalers.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Heros sp. Manacapuru

4. September 2020

Manacapuru is the third largest city in the state of Amazonas in Brazil. It is located about 80 km west of Manaus at the confluence of the Rio Manacapuru and the Amazon. A large, lake-like extension of the Rio Manacapuru near the city is called Lago Cabaliana. 

From the surroundings of Manacapuru, especially the red-backed angelfish have become famous. But there are also wonderful local forms of other cichlids. One of them is the Heros sp. Manacapuru. “Technically” the species belongs most likely to H. efasciatus, but as the fine systematics of this cichlid species is not really understood, it seems more reasonable at present to use the locality name instead of an uncertain species name.

We currently have beautiful German offspring of this Heros in stock.

For our customers: the animals have code 682995 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Heros notatus BRAZIL WILD

4. February 2019

We have received wonderful Heros notatus from Brazil. A typical feature of this species are the dark spots in the lower half of the body. As with all Heros the sexes differ by the head colouring, however, it is not always easy to distinguish a strongly coloured female from a male standing far below in the hierarchy. To avoid to get constantly in trouble with the dominant male, low-ranking males assume female coloration. One calls this also “Sneaker”-behaviour. Sneaker-males frequently appear in cichlids. In the nature, they “take revenge” for the humiliation through the territorial, dominant male by joining the spawning couple during the spawning process and fertilizing many eggs on that occasion. So they can pass on their genes to the next generation, without having spent energy on building up the territory, defence of the territory and courtship display in front of the female. 

For our customers: the animals have code 682955 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.

Text & Photos: Frank Schäfer

Heros liberifer German bred

19. February 2017

The mouthbrooding species of Heros from Venezuela has finally a widely accepted scientific name: Heros liberifer. Please see http://www.aqua riumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/the_mouthbrooding_heros_from_venezuela_a_new_species_heros_liberifer_en/ for detailed information on that case. From time to time we can offer beautiful, 10-14 cm long German bred specimens of that rare fish.

For our customers: the animal has code 682945 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer