NEWS107
20
fyouwant togo to Iquitos inPerunowa-
days, you simplyget on aplane and are
thereafter a fewhours comfortable travel.
In the1930s such a journeynot only took
a lot longer (several weeks) but was also
I
TheNeonTetra,
Paracheirodon innesi
,canbe found ineveryaquariumstore
in theworld.Itenables thousandsofpeople toearna living,eitherbecause
theybreed itorbecause they sell it. Itepitomizesmuchofwhatmakes the
aquarium hobby one of the finest pastimes in the world: it is colorful,
peaceful,interesting,and reflects the livelynatureof theunderwaterworld.
But commonplace though theNeonTetramaybenowadays, itwasn't al-
ways sobya longchalk…
TheNeonTetra
-a fish thatchanged theworld
byTobiasKörbel
considerablymorepunishingandwith in-
volveddanger to lifeand limb.Therewere
virtuallynomedications for thesometimes
deadly tropical diseases. Iquitos lay, if you
will pardon the crude expression, at the
arse endof theworld.Nowonder that no
ornamental fishcollectorswent there.
The Neon Tetra was discovered only by
chance. Auguste Rabaut, an adventurer
andcollectorof floraand faunaofall types,
wasactuallycollectingbutterflieswhenan
indian woman drew his attention to the
NeonTetra.Rabauthad instinctenough to
scent abusinessproposition.
Luxurious fish transport
AlthoughRabautwasnoaquaristandhad
only very rudimentary transport facilities,
hemanaged toget 13Neons alive to the
companyLepant inParis,where theycame
into the hands of J. S.Neel.Neel invented
the nameNeon Fish.The fisheswere sold
for the incredible sum of $ 6,500 to two
Germans,Hugo Schnell andWalter Griem,
inHamburg.Thiswas in1935. In July1936
fiveof these fishesweredispatchedon the
Evergreens
NeonTetra,wild-coloredaquarium strain,male. All photos:FrankSchäfer
airship Hindenburg to the Shedd Aqua-
rium in Chicago in the USA. Not without
problems,as the transportationof liveani-
malsaboardanairshipwasprohibited.Wal-
ter Chute of Shedd had entrusted Fred
Cochuwith the task, and they solved the
problembydeclaring the cans containing
NeonTetra,wild-coloredaquarium strain, female
Birnbaumskamp4b
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Tel (05121) 47671Fax45750
