Exploring a seasonal aquatic habitat in Brazil

My friend Renan and I visit a place where I used to snorkel and film fishes underwater while marvelling at the array of aquatic plants. However, with the early advent of the dry season, the habitat is completely changed. Even so, some of the plants manage to survive!
I show what the habitat looked like during the wet season and contrast it with our visit during the harsh dry months, while demonstrating the variety of amazing plants and fishes that call it home. This kind of seasonal habitat is known as an 'ephemeral pool' and is typical killifish habitat, in this case, for the likely critically endangered Melanorivulus rossoi.
The habitat is surrounded by intensively-farmed land, which has already seen most of the nearby seasonal marshes drained, turned into soy or cattle farms, or poisoned by agro-toxins. The habitat here is a man-made depression which has been colonised by nature, but its existence is in constant peril, and it could be lost at any moment.
You can see a full video of this habitat during the wet season here: • Flooded Seasonal habit...
Fishes we recorded from this habitat (during multiple visits) include:
Astyanax sp.
Cichlasoma sp.
Characidium laterale
Crenicichla britski
Hoplias aff. malabaricus
Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus
Melanorivulus rossoi
Pyrrhulina australis
Serrapinnus notomelus
Music: Kaah - Valante

[@nabokovfan87]

The irony that the paper is still in review to be published and the fish in that habitat are seemingly gone is a bit tragic.

[@biotopia5319]

yes, it's not lost on us ... :(

[@lazygardener6278]

Super interesting video that shows how the habitats of our beloved aquarium fish and plants can also look like!

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

Thanks for sharing the dry season with us. I used to walk the shore like that and it's fun to see what you can find.

[@PanillaSK]

Dahora irmão!

[@ronaldvanheest3572]

MORE!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

[@darrylmoore5847]

This was absolutely fascinating.

[@AG-wf4mu]

Fascinating seeing this cycle, gotta feel for the fishes that die

[@biotopia5319]

We are part of the same cycle...we just try to beat it and ignore it, but I get you, it's hard not to feel for them!

[@mkuc6951]

very interesting video thanks for sharing your research.

[@biotopia5319]

Thank you!🤗

[@An-kw3ec]

So in my understanding, most places at 15 or more degrees from the equator experience monsoon, those biomes change from equatorial rainforest to savanna or seasonal forest due to the winds changing from east to west to east to west.
Very similar to those woodlands and grasslands in central america where guppies are from, they experience severe droughts so you can find them at pretty much every small body of water, even puddles.

[@Lukasz_Hebel77]

That utricularia forest is amazing! I have that plant in fish tank and always wonder how it looks in natueal habitat underwater, due most of its photos are taken from above

[@roten2902]

so liebe ich das naturhabitate...😉👍👍👍

[@australianbiotopes4563]

Thanks for sharing Tai, this reminds me of a lot of our habitat, we do have a lot of permanent water but in a lot of spots it's a lot like this, I have been to spots snorkelling that look like an underwater paradise and been back two years in a row and it has still been dry, we have some similar plants to like the bladderwort and hair grass, we even have a species Aponogeton elongatus that requires a drying out period to survive, it used to be heavily collected as a nice aquarium plant but is now protected due to over collecting, people would have it in their aquarium for a couple of years and it would die off as the bulb would be spent without the drying period, it needs to be removed and stored every couple of years to give it a resting period, I also have no problem with people collecting in these areas as I always know the fish will be replenished when the wet season comes back, most of the fish in these areas will die anyway in the dry, I have also shown this on some of my videos how these places burst back into life very quickly, I love these type of videos 🙂

[@biotopia5319]

I hope one day to explore some of those Oz habitats with you! The seasonal differences are amazing...that's interesting regarding A. elongatus. I think quite a few of the Aponogetons require a dormant period but have not yet tried to replicate this at home...now I will!

[@australianbiotopes4563]

@@biotopia5319 Just make sure they are the right ones, I think some of the Madagascar ones just go dormant due to temps and just melt down in the warmer months from what I've been told by a friend that used to live there, the native one to me does go through drying periods though and should be fed well first to make sure the bulb is healthy and then put into a damp bag of a mix with peat and sand and stored for a few months, I guess being a bulb plant the others may work to, but they are to expensive here for me to try, I know they are much cheaper in other countries.

[@mikefisher7149]

Love the videos and seeing the killi and tetras in their natural environment. Were the tetras reed/kitty tetras in the video ?

[@biotopia5319]

they are Serrapinnus notomelus :) The Redd tetras (Hyphessobrycon elachys) are found further west in the Pantanal 'proper'

[@Davidova]

Thanks for your work, beautiful video

[@fload46d]

Again Tai, thank you for a most interesting video. Sure you are aware that German people were in the forefront of the science of aquarium fish and plants. Ausgezeichnet!

[@biotopia5319]

Yes! Certainly my research for my book shows how important German scientists collectors, importers, breeders and sellers were for the hobby, both for fish and plants!

[@PresperWorks]

Amazing work as always

[@mattriggs.aquaria]

Wow

[@pantanal_aquastudio]

Hey amigo!! Quase esqueci que tinha filmado… hahaha. Obrigado por editar e publicar. Grande abraço e se cuide. Te espero por aqui!!!

[@biotopia5319]

Desculpe que demorei tanto meu! Tive que fazer o livro primeiro kk Valeu e espero que vc ta bem! Grande abraço!

[@KaireMl]

seu portugues eh perfeito. aproveita o pantanal, um dos lugares mais lindos do br.

[@biotopia5319]

Valeu mesmo! :D

[@evangelistathalysson9685]

Bora marcar @Bonfim ?

[@ronaldvanheest3572]

AND.., IN ADDITON, if this were filmed in the United States, the "ditch" would be full of Walmart plastic shopping bags, broken beer bottles, McDonalds wrappers and other garbage

[@geoffbreen2386]

Or in Australia.