DAVID MARSHALL: THE FOUR PONDS AT BURTON AGNES HALL

The quiet East Yorkshire village of Burton Agnes lies only a few miles to the west of the well-known seaside resort of Bridlington. As the guide tells her visitors 'Burton Agnes Hall is unique among stately homes as it encompasses so many fads, construction designs and beautiful craftsmanship from so many eras of British history.' Although delving into the supernatural holds no interest for Sue and me, the Hall also has the reputation as the 'most haunted residence in Yorkshire.'

The impressive gatehouse and path that leads to the Hall.

When you add together the beauty of the grounds surrounding the hall, its walled gardens, plants sales area, craft shop, outdoor games area, woodland retreat and quality cafeteria (don't request a large salad as this is a 'vegetable garden on a plate') you have the makings of an excellent day out.

Sue in the outdoor games area.

But what is there here of interest to the aquarist? The answer comes in the form of four outdoor ponds.

The first pond.

The first of these is situated to the west of the hall. A small number of Lemon and Wild type goldfish enjoy the luxury of a pond that is teeming with Elodea plants. To add a quaint touch, the brass fountain feeding this pond comes in the form of a smiling fish.

The second pond with a beautiful view of the Hall in the background.

A view of the fountain in the main pond.

The second and largest pond is situated amid a lawn to the east of the main building. This pond was built on three levels. The first level, which is also the deepest, is raised and home to several deeply coloured goldfish. The second and longest level currently houses an Israeli tri-coloured Koi who shares her home with a young Mirror Carp and fully-grown Ghost Koi. The third level is best seen during the month of July as it is has a large planting of water lilies.

Carp in the main pond.

As the filtration system for all three levels is only run on a minimal basis there are times when the water appears a little silted, as you will notice from the photographs, so you do have to command a little patience in order to view all of the various fish species. The heron featured on the photograph of this pond is not the real thing but a plastic deterrent aimed at keeping members of the local heron population away from indulging in a fish breakfast.

Although this is only a presumption none of the levels of this pond would appear to be of a depth to allow for the successful over-wintering of the fish species they hold so I assume that these fish must be removed and placed elsewhere during the colder months of the year.

The walled garden.

The third pond is situated within the beautiful walled garden area and is home to a small number of Wild type goldfish. This is the pond that Sue would like to have at home.

The third pond.

Finally comes a wonderful nature pond complete with wooden structures and platforms ideal for frogs and toads. If I had one complaint it is that the amount of water filtered through the model elephant's trunk is actually running too fast to encourage the presence of amphibians.

The fourth pond.

For visitors wishing to view the interior of the hall an entrance fee is charged. The craftsmanship on display is stunning with an art collection dating from the Middle Ages through to modern times. Entrance into the gardens and other areas mentioned earlier also commands a charge (£4 as of November 2010). To find the hall follow the A614 from Bridlington or the A166 from the York by-pass to join the A614 at Driffield. Sue asks me to note that the entrance lane is situated on a rather blind corner.

Burton Agnes Hall may not immediately spring to mind as a place of aquatic interest but is well worth a visit.

DAVID MARSHALL WRITES

Hey Jon

If you think that it may be of interest to CFZ blog readers an interview I did with a local newspaper, Gazette & Herald, about Ryedale Aquarist Society can be viewed at:

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/

Regards David

DAVID MARSHALL: A FIRST EVENT FOR FERRYBRIDGE AQUATICS SHOW TEAM

A FIRST EVENT FOR FERRYBRIDGE AQUATICS SHOW TEAM

On Sunday 5th December 2010 FAST will be hosting ‘An afternoon with FAST’ at Ferrybridge Community Centre, The Square, Knottingley, W. Yorks. The afternoon will be a mixture of lectures and introductions to fish showing.

The following speakers have been confirmed:

David Marshall, Aquarium Gazette Editor -‘Magnificent 7 Aquarium fish’.
Mr. Trevor Douglas, Y.A.A.S. ‘A’ Class Judge - Fish Showing
Mr. Jeremy Gay, Corby A.S. – ‘Fish in Singapore’.

Fish Classes:

1.Northern Tri-Fish Challenge. The scores of three benched fish will be averaged to find a Challenge Champion.
2.SVAS/FAST Friendship Growing On Challenge - return to Ferrybridge of a group Barbus fasciolatus. The fish deemed to have progressed the best will win this Challenge.
3.The Newbie Shower - A class for people who have yet to win a place card at an Open Show.

Further details of what promises to be a very different day phone Dave Kirk on 07799878121

CHINESE CAVEMAN: DAVID MARSHALL WRITES..

Hey Jon

On Friday 3rd September the Sky Chinese televison station CCTV9 aired their long-running series Nature & Science. Sometimes they repeat this programme a couple of days later.

I try to catch this programme as sometimes it features fish-related topics.

The first part of the programme was all about the Chinese Caveman. Sorry I did not note the location but local people, who are very afraid of the yeti-like creature they frequently encounter, found strands of hair fastened around bushes.

The hair was passed on to the local science community. These folk became very excited as it matched no known animal. Sadly, after much research, they discovered that this hair was actually strands of a rare algae-like plant.

Only a small note but may be of use.

Regards, David

DAVID MARSHALL HAS ASKED US TO PUBLICISE THAT..

Due to circumstances beyond our control Ryedale A.S have had to move our 2011 Open Show back to Sunday 11th September.

RYEDALE A.S TWINNING DAY 2010

Text by David Marshall
Presentation photographs by Richard Hebden
All other photographs by David Marshall

On Sunday 15th August the majestic Whistler Room at Pickering Memorial Hall played host to a special Twinning Day involving the members and friends of the Ryedale Aquarist Society and STAMPS. The day began with a special presentation on the subject of Pencilfish that was given by Miss Amy and Mrs Wendy Charters.

Special guest for the event was Mr Steve Dent of the Yorkshire Cichlid Group who presented two talks based around his favourite cichlids of South and Central America.

Steve Dent

The people present enjoyed taking part in a food and drink quiz that was devised by Miss Sue Marshall.

Y.A.A.S. ‘A’ Class Judge Mr. Trevor Douglas judged the 9-class mini-show in which a total of 44 fish were entered. The quality of fish was excellent and included Corydoras pantanalensis, Chinese Roundtail Guppy, Schubert’s Golden Barb and C6.

Trevor busy judging

A sales table was also held with various cichlids, livebearers and fish foods causing much interest.

Bede Kerrigan looking after the sales table.

The Aquarium Gazette CD magazine was also present with an information stand.

Finally, Twinning Day would not be Twinning Day without our traditional ‘pot luck lunch.’ A big thanks to all who brought along such a wonderful selection of sweet and savoury items!

A big thank you to all the people present for all the work that was done on this very special day and for friendship.

This very special photograph, featuring Bede Kerrigan and Frank Tolomeo, sums up what Twinning Day is all about.

Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to move our 2011 Open Show back to Sunday 11th September.

Looking forward, the Ryedale A.S. Open Show 2011 will be held on Sunday 24th April at Old Malton Memorial Hall, North Yorkshire.

MAX BLAKE: Livebearer breeding success

You should all have read that back in early June a mini expedition (of a sort) went up to the midlands from the CFZ to try and bring back some new species of livebearing fish for the CFZ collections. Dave, Jon and myself set out bright and early to try and get all the lots we wanted and to a degree, we succeeded.

Two of the rarer species we brought back were Limia grossidens and Xiphophorus nezahualcoyotl. Both Jon and I love Xiphophorus species, and many of the more obscure species have wonderful species names such as X. montezumae and X. cortezi, all named on a Aztec theme. We were trying really hard to breed both species in the same tank when disaster struck and we lost our male X. nezahualcoyotl. Though this is a problem to breeding, we had our hopes pinned on their strange reproductive biology. Like all members of the group, both Limia and Xiphophorus give birth to live young but the females can also store sperm to fertilise future broods. We crossed our fingers and hoped that they had mated before he died.

Just over a month later we had some good news. We had around six fry living in the tank with the adults but due to their very small size we could not determine their species. Eventually, as luck would have it, they were large enough by the time I got down here for the Weird Weekend for me to be able to determine their species. Not only had we bred the more obvious Limia grossidens, whose fry show the black banding and obvious silver spot surrounded by black on their dorsal fin, but we also had 2 fry, probably both females, of the Xiphophorus! The two species had released their fry at the same time and we now have a very small colony of both species living together happily. It will take another year at least before both species get up to full colony status, but more importantly, we need to hope that the Xiphophorus female releases another brood and we get a male this time!

In the meanwhile, if anyone (David Marshall!) knows of someone keeping, breeding or selling this species please get in touch with Jon or myself and you can help us conserve this wonderful species.

DAVID MARSHALL: AQUATIC EXHIBITS AT BRISTOL ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS

The entrance to the Zoological Gardens

The Bristol Zoological Gardens are situated in the Clifton area of the city (close to the famous Suspension Bridge) and cover a 12-acre expanse. The grounds are home to a wide variety of animals from throughout the world, and such is the care and dedication shown by the staff towards their charges that the Good Britain Guide voted Bristol Zoo as 'Zoo of the Year 2004.' The secret of success here is that every inch of ground is utilised to full effect be it an amazing animal enclosure, a beautiful landscaped garden or simply a place to rest.

If you enter the zoo at the main entrance the first aquatic exhibits you will find are at ‘Twilight World’ (at the entrance look out for the New Zealand Mountain Parrots, who look as mean as their reputation for destruction suggests). Once your eyes have adjusted to the dark you are surrounded by a host of ground-living and flying mammals that literally live for the night. Fish exhibits are limited to a large aquarium that accommodates an equally large Marbled Clarias and a smaller aquarium - home to a community of Butterfly Goodeids.

The main aquatic exhibits are housed in the aquarium building, and here you find 18 aquaria that range greatly in size and dimensions. I enjoyed the new ‘loop film’ that tells you about the conservation work and day-to-day duties carried out by the zoo’s aquarist.

The Zoo Aquarium

The first four aquariums are used to highlight the plight of freshwater habitats and the need for greater conservation efforts to be made in order to protect the white clawed crayfish, Potosi pupfish, African crater lake cichlids and Central American livebearers that they house.

Now we are onto the first of several spectacular biotope aquaria and here we find a community of 'fossil fish' from several countries, which includes Sterlets, American Paddlefish, Barbel and various Gars.

Now we stand in front of what for me is always the highlight of the aquarium, in the form of an East-Asian biotope. What a fantastic array of fish we find here including a large shoal of clown loaches, two huge giant gouramis, silver sharks, Pangassius catfish, dragon fish (bred at the zoo) and the largest Myxcioprinus asciaticus on display in the U.K. I stood for ages just watching this community in awe.

Dragon Fish and Giant Gourami

The next large aquarium is a nicely set-out brackish display, the occupants of which include scats and fingerfish. A piranha community follows and leads us nicely into the Amazon flooded forest exhibit that takes you between 'mock trees', where you find black bacu, various loricarins, silver dollars and a large number of flier cichlids swimming on both sides of you and above your head.

We're not finished yet, as two more excellent biotopes follow! The first of these is an Amazon black water habitat whose occupants include some of the largest Motoro stingrays I have seen. The final biotope takes us to Lake Malawi and here we find a huge range of mbuna who have a giraffe catfish and a huge lungfish for company. On our second look around of the day Sue and I were fortunate enough to see feeding time here and this was a sight to remember.

As you will see from the photograph that follows the final exhibits are beautifully arranged tropical marine aquariums.

One of the tropical marine displays

Very close to the aquarium is the equally spectacular reptile house. Here a waterfall runs down into a large pool that is split into three sections. The first section had me spellbound as it houses some of the largest Thai carp I have seen for many years. Watch for the large clown knifefish as it is so well camouflaged that it is easy to miss. The other two sections are home to various colour forms of African zebra cichlids. Some wonderful crocodilians and other water living reptiles and amphibians are also on display.

In ‘Bug World’ a new section of aquaria dedicated to tropical and native marine coral habitats have been created. The highlight for me was an amazing blue lobster and the condensation on the glass showed the cold conditions in which this creature has to be maintained. A ‘loop film’ highlights the peril many of our marine habitats are under as climate change etc. tightens its grip.

Each visit sees the zoo’s shoal of huge carp in a different animal enclosure moat so suspect that they are moved around to munch away at excess Elodea etc? As you read this report you will find them in the moat that surrounds the gibbon enclosure. Their moving around is probably the reason why, of all of the fish on display, these are the only ones without excellent information boards?

Finally, what you need to enjoy Bristol Zoological Gardens is plenty of time and good walking shoes. So many visitors rush around and miss the little touches, such as the iris pond, that make these gardens so special. When each visit ends, Sue and I long to return.

DAVID MARSHALL WRITES...

Hey Jon

Hope you are keeping well. Will you please place the following piece onto the CFZ blogs for me?

Ryedale Aquarist Society

25th Anniversary Open Day - Sunday 11th July 2010

Old Malton Memorial Hall, Malton, North Yorkshire Y017 7HD

Doors open at 10.00a.m.

TIMETABLE OF EVENTS IN THE MAIN HALL

10.00a.m. to 11.10a.m. - Booking of auction lots.

11.15a.m. to 12.15p.m. - Talk by our special guest Dr. David Ford.
Dr. Ford will be talking about his life and work in fishkeeping with a talk entitled ‘It began with a goldfish’.

12.15p.m. to 12.45 p.m. - Booking of auction lots.
During this time we will be having a ‘tea and coffee happy half hour’ when such refreshments will be served free of charge.

12.50p.m. onwards - Auction of fish and aquatic items.

This is an open auction so TO PRE-BOOK AUCTION LOTS PHONE 01751 472715

AUCTIONEER: Mr. S. Jones

Please note that Ryedale A.S. will take a 15% commission on all auction lots sold.

Please label lots to assist the auctioneer.

Please make sure that all electrical goods are clearly marked with the name and address of the seller.

EVENTS IN THE SHOW HALL

ALL of the Classes, BCA Classes and Championship events listed are of an OPEN nature.

Y.A.A.S. ‘A’ Class Judge Mr. Steven Grant has accepted our invitation to be the Sitting Judge

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RYEDALE 25th ANNIVERSARY CHAMPIONSHIP

This ‘Fish of Fishes’ is open to any type of egglaying or livebearing fish however; exhibits are limited to ONE EXHIBIT PER PERSON.
Exhibits are to be entered in the name of the person who owns the fish only.

Fish entered in the Championship do not need to have scored 85 points or more at an Open Show to be eligible.

Prizes for 1st to 6th place.

The Championship will be judged in 2 stages:
Stage 1. The Sitting Judge will reduce the exhibits to 6 fish that go forward to stage 2.
Stage 2. All ‘A’ Class Judges present (with the exception of our own David Marshall) will be invited to point the 6 remaining fish. Their points will then be averaged to decide the places. In the event of any tied places the points given by the Sitting Judge will be decisive.

Entry fee 50p per exhibit.

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‘SHANGHAI RYEDALE STYLE’

To take part in this ultimate fishkeeping contest requires one show tank split into 3 sections or 3 separate show tanks.

An egglaying or a livebearing fish can be chosen but all 3 sections/show tanks must contain the SAME SPECIE as follows:
Section/tank 1 - An adult fish of either sex.
Section/tank 2 - A matched pair.
Section/tank 3 - six fish, over four months old, bred by the exhibitor with the date of spawning/birth of the fry and breeding group clearly marked.

Each of the 3 sections will be judged up to 100 points and then the total scores averaged.

The Sitting Judge has sole responsibility for the judging of this contest.

Prizes and cards for 1st to 3rd places.

Entry fee 50p.

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MINI-OPEN SHOW

Entry fee 20p per exhibit. Prizes and cards for 1st to 3rd places.

Livebearers

Class 1 - Guppy.

Class 2 - AOV Livebearing fish.

Egglayers

Class 3 - Goldfish and AOV Coldwater.

Class 4 - AV Characin of the America’s

Class 5. - AV Fish of the America’s (excluding cichlids and characins).

Class 6 - AV Characin of Africa.

Class 7 - AV Fish of Africa (excluding cichlids and characins).

Class 8 - AV Fish of Asia.

Ladies Day

Class 9 - A Class for lady showers only. AV fish.

Not usually on the show bench

Class 10 - This is a ‘one off’ Class for those fish not usually seen on the showing bench such as Asian Parrot cichlids, Flowerhorns, other hybrid Cichlids, hybrid Synodontis, hybrid Botinae, Hooded Goldfish, Long-finned fish, Albino fish, Xanthic fish etc.
No pointing for this Class. Places to be awarded at the Judges discretion.

All of the Mini-Open Show Classes will be judged by the Sitting Judge. Y.A.A.S. rules and standards apply.

Your chance to show your artistic skills in the following Classes:

CRAFT CLASS ON A FISH THEME

Produce a fish craft item. Entry fee 20p per exhibit. Prizes and cards for 1st to 3rd places. Judges to be announced on the day.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CLASS

Framed or unframed prints up to 25cm by 20cm. Amateur and professional photographers are welcome to exhibit.

Portrait or Landscape e.g. Fish only or Aquarium set up. Exhibitor to choose the classification. Entry fee 20p per exhibit. Prizes and cards for 1st to 3rd places. Judges to be announced on the day.

BRITISH CICHLID ASSOCIATION MINI-SHOW

4 Classes as follows:

1. AV Cichlid of the America’s.

2. AV Cichlid of the African Continent.

3. Cichlid - Matched Pair.

4. Cichlid - Breeders. Six fish, over four months old, bred by the exhibitor with the date of spawning group clearly marked.

Y.A.A.S. Rules and standards apply. Prizes and cards for 1st to 3rd places. Entry fee 20p per exhibit.

FNAS ‘A’ Class Judge Mr. John Cowan will judge these Classes.

Several Specialist Groups have accepted our invitation to present small information table.

REFRESHMENTS

Tea, coffee, soft drinks and a variety of food items will be on sale throughout the day.

RAFFLE

There will be a special 25th Anniversary raffle.

AMPLE FREE PARKING AROUND THE VENUE.


THANKS JON

Regards David

DAVID MARSHALL: THE AQUARIUM AT THE WORLD MUSEUM, LIVERPOOL

In the 1850s Mr William Brown, a wealthy Liverpool merchant banker, provided the land and finance, in exchange for having the road on which the building would stand named after himself, to enable the building of a beautiful neo-classic building that would house Liverpool’s largest collection of antiquities and wonders of the natural world. With the exception of the re-building that followed the ravages of World War II, the building and its contents remained much the same until dramatic improvements at the start of this century, which closed the building for a number of months, doubled the amount of display space and created a beautiful new atrium that was first opened to the public in 2005. It was at this point that the title World Museum was used for the first time.
The impressive neo-classical building that houses the World Museum

In March 2010 Sue and I paid our first visit to this wonderful place, one of the best ‘free days out’ in the U.K., since the building was re-opened. The galleries, spread over several floors, are truly amazing and house, amongst many other things, the biggest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts outside of Cairo, a U.K. Commonwealth collection that is stunning, natural history presentations that include ‘living bugs’ and plants, beautifully crafted biotopes from the age of taxidermy, fossils and a planetarium. All of the floors are easily accessed by either lift or stairs and have their own educational and toilet facilities.

However, for the purpose of this article, we will concentrate on the public aquarium display situated on the first floor and dedicated to native and tropical marine life. To show the various aquarium displays, which vary greatly in size and shape, to their full advantage, much of the display area, but not the aquariums themselves, is dimly lit and gives you the impression that you are in a cavern (perhaps this is a reminder that the smaller aquarium, which then housed tropical freshwater fish and goldfish as well, we had first visited here was housed in the basement). Everywhere there are excellent information boards and loose-leaf books that contain information about the various themes and creatures on display.

The impressive aquarium is a mixture of living and information displays.

As you enter the aquarium you find yourself standing next to a large cubed aquarium that is home to ‘tropical predators’ and here you can view lyretail grouper and various lionfish. Moving on brings you to a wall in which three large and one small aquaria are home to tropical marine fish from the Indo-Pacific region. The displays, the quality and variety of fish (from young Clownfish through to large Bannerfish) on show and the clarity of the water etc. can only be described as ‘stunning.’

One of the amazing Indo-Pacific displays.

Next come eleven displays classed as ‘local rocky shores.’ Here you can see the wonders of local marine life. Magnifying equipment allows you to look at creatures as varied as sea bullheads, stone king crabs and common starfish in great detail.

On now to a larger display in which kelp is used as a background, in order to show just how glorious the colours of our native Wrasse are.

If I had to choose a highlight of the displays then for me it would be the large brackish display that had me speechless: a beautifully themed aquarium that is home to variously coloured Scats, Fingerfish and Archerfish, all of which are a living picture of health. The loving way in which all of the fish here are cared for is obvious. Thankfully, you can sit on a well-placed couch and just watch the activity and inter-actions that go on in the aquarium.

The displays conclude with four large aquaria dedicated to life found around Anglesey. Of course no such aquaria would be complete without a display of Thornback Rays, while the Abyss houses some amazing Lumpfish.

Rays are popular native marine fish

Much thought and planning has gone into the aquarium at the World Museum. As you will already have guessed I was impressed by the displays and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent here.

What you require for a visit to the World Museum is a great deal of time. You can see everything in one day (as we did) but to see everything in detail you would, in all honesty, need a week.

DAVID MARSHALL: Tinsel and fins

This year (2009) the Christmas Tree Festival at St. Peter & St. Paul’s Church, Pickering (North Yorkshire) was held against the backdrop of the heaviest snowfalls Pickering had seen for many years.

This year the Festival ran from Friday 11th to Tuesday 29th December. I decided to create a theme of ‘tinsel and fins’ for this years display. As the 25 fish disc ornaments from 2008 remained intact these would be used to form the basis of the display. Master Paul Story (the grandson of our chairman, Mr. Henry Hallsworth) used painted egg box segments to create 12 ornaments of his own while Miss Amy Charters answered our request for ornaments from our ‘twinned’ Society, STAMPS, by creating disc ornaments showing a Silver Shark and a Schubert’s Golden Barb.

Wednesday 9th December marked Christmas Tree Festival decorating day! I was on my own for the morning decorating session, 10.00a.m. to 12noon, and chose a very sturdy-looking tree. I made a rough placement of the ornaments during this time.

Sue was able to join me for the full afternoon session, 2.15p.m. to 4.15p.m, and with ornaments and lights placed upon the tree the fins part of the job was nearly complete. For the tinsel aspect we placed these streamers around the tree base, along with information sheets about Ryedale A.S. and a blown-up Betta photograph as a background feature. Committee Member Mrs. Elizabeth Skellington came along to lend support. After school Paul was able to come along, in the company of his Mum Tracy, and place his ornaments to complete the fins section. By the time we left the tree was just as I had envisaged.

Sue and I returned for the final session, 6.00p.m. to 8.00p.m., and checked that everything was okay.

Our tree was one of 29 decorated by local hobby groups, local educational providers, local service providers and Christian groups. Spread out from the large entrance area, throughout the church to the altar they created a beautiful display that complimented the famous Mediaeval wall paintings and formed a feeling of peace and humility. Well done for all the work put into the tree decorating by all concerned. It was lovely to see people of all age groups taking part during the different sessions. Now I know why Roy Wood said "I wish it could be Christmas everyday."


The festival was officially opened on Friday 11th December with a selection of carols, traditional seasonal songs, organ recitals and readings put together by that wonderful choral group that go by the name of the Chanticleer Singers. Sue and I represented the society and thoroughly enjoyed this evening. As the singers took their deserved applause the church was darkened and the trees lit.

Sue and I returned on Tuesday 22nd December and this allowed us to take the festival photographs that accompany this piece.

Although the festival is all about friendship and community I have to confess that I was ‘chuffed to bits’ with all the lovely comments made about our tree by locals who visited the festival this year.

DAVID MARSHALL: The Ryedale Aquarist Society Open Show

The CFZ Alliance is basically a coalition of many disparate organisations and people who are basically batting for the same side, and who have basically the same philosphy regarding the importance of Natural History, and the fascination of Cryptozoology. Today, for the first time, I am happy to introduce you to an old compadre of mine - David Marshall

On Sunday 26th April seasoned and novice Aquarists’ alike travelled from many corners of the U.K. in order to join the members of the Ryedale Aquarist Society for their annual aquarium fish Open Show, which was held at the Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall.

This year the event was split into two sections.

The first of these was a full Open Show with 45 Classes covering the full range of tropical freshwater and coldwater fish. 20 families brought along a total of 180 fish, many of which were of an extremely high standard, and these were judged to Y.A.A.S. rules and standards.

The main results were as follows: -
Best in Show - Mr. B. O’ Neill (Workington Aquarist Society) with a Humpbacked limia.
Best Exhibit - Mr. Mark Walters (Castleford A.S.)
Best goldfish - Mr. N. Swales (STAMPS)
Junior Award - Miss A. Charters (STAMPS)

The second section consisted of a Guppy only show that formed part of the British Livebearer Association Guppy Section Show League. A total of 40 fish were entered in the 3 Classes. BLA Judges judged to their own rules and standards.

The Class winners were as follows:-
Broad tail guppy - Mr. S. Elliott
Sword tail guppy - Mr. D. Jordan
Short tail guppy - Mr. M. Clarke

22 families submitted auction ‘lots’ giving Mr. Steve Jones and his auctioneering team a very busy, but enjoyable, afternoon.

The Ryedale members send their thanks to the small army of helpers from both the Y.A.A.S. and T.T.A.A.F.B.A.S. for their wonderful help, to all the exhibitors who brought along their best fish, to the people who brought their auction ‘lots’, aquatic industry and tourist attractions for their generous support, to all our friends who made the journey to be with us and interested visitors from the Ryedale area who came along to view the fish exhibits.

On Sunday 4th October the Society will return to the Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall to host an Open mini-show and auction of aquatic items. Further details to follow.

NEW CATFISH POSES MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

A new species of catfish, which - it is claimed - "could grasp and climb rocks with its tail and mouth", has been discovered in a remote part of Venezuela, and - bizarrely - shares traits with two different fish families — Loricariidae (armored catfishes) and Astroblepidae (climbing catfishes). It has bony armor that protects its head and tail, and a grasping pelvic fin that helps it to climb vertical surfaces such as rocks.

Studies of L. wahari confirmed that the species is a member of a group that bridges two catfish families. Bony plates on its head and tail, plus other features, link the species to the Loricariidae, the widespread and successful family of fully armored catfishes. but the specialised pelvic finthat decouples from its body and moves backward and forward independently is otherwise found only in a family of climbing catfish restricted to the Andes, the Astroblepidae. Climbing could be an advantage to these fishes because of the irregular and sometimes high-flow of streams in these elevations.

So many new South American Catfish have been discovered in recent years that taxonomists have had to resort to a novel way of cataloguing them. David Marshall, of the Ryedale Aquarists Society and an old friend of the CFZ writes:

In the late 1980's a small variety of loricarins new to the U.K. aquarium hobby began appearing in aquatic retail outlets. All of these fish were given exotic-sounding common names so a small white fish with black stripes was sold as the emperor or zebra peckoltia, a fish with wavy black and yellow markings the scribbled plec, and one with a dark black body and white spots was sold as the vampire plec.

From the scant information that could be obtained, mainly through friendly retailers, U.K. aquarists were led to believe that all of these fish had originated from the Rio Xingu area of Brazil and were vegetarian by nature. It would take sometime for this information to be corrected, and make aquarists realise that these particular loricarins’ natural range extended beyond the Xingu area and that their dietary requirements were actually very varied.

As more of these loricarins began to appear, the sales tickets on their aquaria (first seen in Yorkshire through L 018 - Baryancistrus niveatus 'golden nugget') began to show a sequence that began with the letter L followed by a series of numbers. Shortly afterwards the letters LDA began the sequence with some of these fish. The shape and character of the sequenced species was also starting to change as no longer did they all have the look of a miniature plecostomus, but some resembled whiptail catfish, others large otocinclus, and then came the truly bizarre sight of little loricarins with grey and black marbled patterns - best described as elongated wine gums with fins. What on earth was going on?

When all was revealed, it became clear that these loricarins had been available on the European mainland for some time before we had seen them in the U.K. They were appearing not only from the Rio Xingu, but from many other areas of South America. As each new fish had been discovered, the well known German magazine DATZ had featured their portrait.

Worried about varying common names that had been given to these fish in the trade, the DATZ Editorial staff had come up with a system in which each new fish would be given an L-Sequenced number that would allow it to be universally recognised, until the scientific community could get through the tortuous procedure of giving them a proper scientific name. Going back in their records revealed that the fish U.K. hobbyists would come to know as the `white spot pleco` had been the first to be pictured, so this fish began the L Sequence as L 001 (L1). With some of the new species, it was clear to see that these were only colour, or regional, variants of loricarins already sequenced. So this was indicated, by adding a lower-case letter at the end of their number. Thus L O90d is the fourth known variant of ‘panaque species Peru'.

The Editorial staff of the rival German magazine Das Aquarium had also received photographs of other new loricarins coming out of South America, along with different-looking photographs of some of the L numbered fish, so not to be outdone they created the LDA numbering system for their photographs. Starting this sequence was the gold peckoltia which thus became LDA 01 (LDA1).

So from the start, we had confusion with different L and LDA numbers applying to the same fish. This became even more compounded when regional and colour variations of sequenced loricarins would slip through the system, thus giving them a totally different L number than that already assigned for their kind.

This would become partly to blame for further errors occurring, as other aquatic publications began captioning loricarin photographs with incorrect L and LDA numbers. These problems aside, the two sequencing systems remain the recognised - and best - way to keep a record of all the subject species, until the arduous task of scientifically naming them all is finally completed.

It is hard to keep track of LDA numbered fish through publications available in Britain, but by September 2003 a total of 76 loricarins had been sequenced. Thankfully, information on the L numbered loricarins is easier to come by, and of September 2004 the sequence had reached number 387.

One has to wonder why all these new catfish species have suddently turned up at once. Is it merely that the Amerindian collectors are now plundering hitherto untapped areas? Is it that they are better at their job than they used to be? Or could it be that something is causing a far greater degree of speciation than usual, and producing a bucketload of new species. This peculiar new species with which I started this column would tend to support that hypothesis.