Some photos

[Stella]

I was playing in a new pond yesterday and came home with a whole lot of backswimmers and a new log for my giant kokopu

It is looking a bit bare, but I will find a ponga frond for across the back (the remains of the last frond, put in six months ago, is now a nice litter on the substrate)

Maxine is looking awesome these days. You wouldn't think she virtually gave up eating for the first six months of this year! No idea what that was about, but her appetite is back now, and just as big as her personality. She is four years old and maybe a little over 20cm, but probably a bit stunted due to some weird health issues over time.

She is a bit full tonight. The backswimmers are hanging out in this big group under the lights and every so often she cruises through them while they dive out of the way!

Backswimmers are a 'true bug'. They definition of that is they have sucking mouthparts, so group with cicadas, aphids, hoppers, shield bugs etc. Backswimmers suck other inverts, while boatmen suck plants and algae. They also chip! I can hear them on the other side of the room. Quite unnerving at first!

[phoenix44]

Are those fairly light like thing the backswimmers?

Where do you find them?

[Adrienne]

Great pics and a lovely looking fish. I envy the way you keep the natives.

[Stella]

I found them in a pond in the Turitea stream walkways area, near to the old west road.

Go along old west road, where it crosses the turitea stream there is a dodgy little carpark by the road. Going up the hill is a path and staircase through some pines. Wander along for a big and there is a farm pond right by the track

(If anyone is unfamiliar with backswimmers, look at the semi-in-focus one in the bottom photo. They swim along on their back, the two 'oars' being a pair of legs, the sticky-uppy thing pointing backwards is its mouth-straw. Their bodies hold a very thin bubble of air all around them for breathing, this does some gas-exchange with the water, but is replenished periodically at the surface.)

Thanks Adrienne

[Nymox]

Maxine looks great! Nice pics

[phoenix44]

cool!

so they are food for Maxine?

[flatfish]

Maxines looking great and no doubt wont be that hungry for a while. Great photos Stella.

[Stella]

yes, live food! However I also set up a 3ft tank yesterday as a 'pond' tank for invertebrates. The backswimmers that were lucky enough to go in there have now achieved 'pet' status, along with the two different species of water beetle, snails, tubifex, tiny pea mussels, copepods and ostracods

Over time I will add more stuff from other ponds and let things take their course, establish a balanced mini-ecosystem

Will add photos from this later in the week (no light on the tank yet, but it is up against the window for algae as the basis of the system.)

[phoenix44]

wow. Awesome. If she was a tropical fish the common name would have been galaxy something. I like the spots. Not as boring as I thought! :oops:

I think I have seen a big one of these at the Napier aquarium. They sort of look like a schooling fish.

I'll google them now :lol:

[Stella]

LOL it is!

Galaxias argenteus The first part does refer to the spots being like a galaxy (an early description also likened them to hieroglyphics, the spots can be more swirly on large adults).

The 'argenteus' bit must have been a bit embarrassing for the person who named it. 'Argent' means silver, but there is nothing silver about these guys, in the sun they are more golden, with the finest sprinkling of gold dust.

This is the largest whitebait species, 30-40cm is a reasonable adult size these days (they are pretty rare ) but can also get much bigger. The largest recorded was (IIRC) 58 cm and 2.5kg! Not good eating though, and don't 'fight' on the line, hence trout :evil:

They are not a schooling fish, more of a lurker. They hang out in quiet shady pools, in swamps or very sluggish streams. They are nocturnal and hide in wood jams, undercut banks etc during the day (Maxine jams herself under the rocks on the left) then patrol at night. They have a secondary lateral line on either side of the tops of their backs for detecting terrestrial invertebrates that have fallen onto the surface of the water. They can be quite site-loyal and tend not to be found in pools with large eels.

[CodKing]

Wow, that's a cool looking setup!

[JarrenB]

Are backswimmers and water boatman the same thing? :-?

Looks great, love the fish.

[Stella]

Ew, she has been regurgitating finely processed backswimmers tonight. Never see her do that before - though I have seen regurgitated beetles. She looks pretty relaxed about it all, not sick or anything.

Not sure why, maybe something about the chitin, or being a novel food?

Backswimmers and boatmen are quite different, but it takes a while to get used to them.

Backswimmers literally swim on their backs. Boatmen are rounder and swim on their fronts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backswimmer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corixidae

[Caryl]

No they are not the same. I thought I did an article, not too long ago, in the AW about the differences but can't find it. Perhaps I imagined it!!

[johnny walker]

how big is that tank?

[Stella]

From memory: 120cm long x 50 deep x 40 wide.

If she grows much more she will need somewhere bigger. Apparently large wild ones (~40cm) are known to live in pools the same size as the tank, barely wide enough to turn around but of course they get pretty substantial hourly waterchanges...

[johnny walker]

yeah i would get her a bigger tank when shes a bit bigger lovely markings where did you get her buddy ?