NEWS105
46
yleus schomburgkii
is widespread
and common in the middle and
lower Amazon region, in the Rio Nanay,
and in the upper Orinoco. The species
attains a maximum length of around 45
cm and is used as a food fish. Juveniles
exhibit a sickle-shaped band on a silvery
background; thewidthof this band varies
depending onprovenance.The anal fin is
red in color.
How and when the cultivated form
“Lamax III”first surfaced isn’tdocumented,
M
Myleus
are splendid fishes. However, they grow rather large and the
majority of species eat plants, whichmeans they are suitablemainly for
public aquaria and specialists and less so for the classic community
aquarium. And hence demand is usually readily met with wild-caught
stocks. But hatcheries in Asia have recently started working with the
species
Myleus schomburgkii
, in order to be independent of the irregular
consignments fromSouthAmerica.
Myleus“Lamax III”
byRomanNeunkirchen
Rarities
Myleus schomburgkii
,wild-caught.
Myleus
“Lamax III”; this characinpurportedlygrows toonly8-10 cm long.
All photos:FrankSchäfer
and thephotos shownhereare the first to
appear in thewesternpress. It seems tobe
a very rare form that hardly ever turns up
in broods, as in 2012 only 30 individuals
wereoffered for saleon theworldmarket,
20ofwhich came toAquariumGlaser. It is
probably no exaggeration to say that
Myleus “Lamax III” is one of the rarest
fishes in theworld.
It is perhaps a little speculative to assign
this form to the species
Myleus
schomburgkii
,but the idea seemscredible,
as the hatchery from which these fishes
originate
offers
“normal”
Myleus
schomburgkii
as “Lamax I” and the
naturally-occurring variant or species
from the Alto Solimoes with the broad
central band as “Lamax II”. So it seems
feasible that the “Lamax III” is amutation
that occurs during the breeding of the
above-mentioned two forms.On theother
hand there is a very highprobability that
it isn’t a cross, as all 20 “Lamax III” look
identical. In addition there would
undoubtedly be more specimens in that
case, as such large characins as
Myleus
schomburgkii
produce ten thousand of
eggs at a time.
