Lake Victoria Cichlids at Moody Gardens

[Mzungu]

I'll post these pictures in the picture thread of the GHAC's behind-the-scenes tour of Moody Gardens this morning, but also wanted to start a thread here in the African Cichlid subforum because, hey, we just saw a species that is extinct in the wild. Not only that, but the ONLY place it exists today is at Moody Gardens. Pretty cool. Pretty sad, too.

Here's the Harpagochromis sp. "two stripe white lip." Their tank is the one on the top left of the first photo:





















I apologize that some of the pictures aren't that great. My camera was running out of memory, we were ending our tour, etc. etc. I wish I would have spent more time there deleting photos so I could take more of these guys. :(

[fshfrk]

Very cool MB!

[imagirlgeek]

Wow...awesome! Are they able to breed them?

[Mzungu]

Yes! Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the guy said they had about 200 total, up from 1-hundred-something.

[armthehomeless]

Yes! Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the guy said they had about 200 total, up from 1-hundred-something.

MB is correct. You can actually see some of the fry in the fish picture in the ten gallons at the bottom. They survived the hurricane with no power for quite a while. It was one of the few tanks in the Rainforest Exhibit that did not get saltwater in it.

[armthehomeless]

I mentioned have all of what is left of a species in the world in one place is probably not the best . . . and that I have a extra tank.

[Darbex]

Yeah the guy at Moody Gardens said that no other aquarium wants them and since they are endangered arent allowed to sell them either.

[Zulaab]

This is where GHAC comes into the picture.. we need to form it as a non-for-profit and make our own breeding program and ask if we can have a dozen fry for breeding program to help the world. Grow them out and have them spawn, and bring back thousands of fry to them in the next few years.. That would be so cool... man you can only dream right ?

[Fire_chair]

You should post this on the HCCC forum, they love Vics over there.