Post #14060

Armored catfish: Fish in the armor of a Roman legionnaire — Armored catfish, let’s take off your armor, who are you without it? — Survivors in extreme conditions, top-class architects and simply cave aspidoras. The emphasis is on the third syllable, if that's the case. - Got it, I’ll write an article about you. You won't be able to come across armored catfish by accident, even if you live in South America. After all, they live where no adequate person would go: in large stinking puddles, in small overgrown reservoirs and in the open waters of large swamps. And normal fish are not delighted with such beauties either - there is so much organic matter in these reservoirs that the lion's share of oxygen is spent on its decomposition - there is nothing special to breathe there! But armored catfish have adapted: they swallow air bubbles, push them through the intestines and breathe through the hindgut. It’s effective, but I wouldn’t want to repeat it. In such small and overgrown lakes there is no point in graceful shapes and high speed, so all the locals focused on camouflage or protection. Armored catfish, as you guessed, followed the second path. They abandoned the small, flexible fish scales in favor of long, wide plates that, when layered on top of each other, become plate armor, just like the legionnaires of the Roman Empire. And she copes with her task perfectly. Just to survive and thrive, it is not enough to protect yourself - you also need to protect your offspring. Therefore, the catfish thought of building nests. They choose a place with a sandy bottom, dig a hole in it, line it with algae and lay eggs there. Such eggs are not only difficult to find for enemies and easy to protect for parents, but also very convenient to fertilize. The number of fertilized eggs is approaching 100%, and this is already the level of human aquafarms, and not wild fish populations. But for some, even such architectural excesses are not enough. Armored catfish from the genus Hoplosternum have gone further and build real floating nests, perfectly camouflaged and invulnerable to bottom predators. Such a nest is a ball made of aquatic plants, inside of which there are eggs and many air bubbles. They provide the nest with buoyancy and the eggs with an additional supply of oxygen. However, not everyone was able to adapt to the harsh conditions of the South American swamps. The guys from the Aspidoras family did not take out the competition for living space and fled to the Brazilian caves. There they got rid of predators and the need to hide clutches, but paid for it with loss of pigmentation, lack of food and life in the eternal cold. The already small fish – no larger than the palm of your hand – have shrunk to a measly 3-5 centimeters! And if you, after looking at the photos and reading the letters, wanted to buy yourself a couple of armored fish, then I have good news for you! Catfish are widespread in the aquarium hobby, have a wide variet