Tropical Fish Hobbyist - November 2007

LIVEBEARER NEWSROOM

SAN ANTONIO WINS BID

FOR

ALA 2008

The American Livebearer Association (ALA) has selected San Antonio, Texas as the site for its annual convention slated for May 1–4, 2008. The winner of the bid was a consortium of hobbyists led by Charles Clappsaddle of Goliad Fish Farms (Goliad, TX). The Houston Livebearers Association (HLA), under the leadership of Max Smith, will be the official host.

“We are excited for the opportunity to show off Texas hospitality,” said Clappsaddle. “San Antonio is Texas’s number one tourist destination, and it also offers the opportunity to see livebearers in their natural habitats.”

The ALA Convention, to be held at the Hilton San Antonio Airport Hotel, will consist of four days of expert guest speakers with slides, a multi-class competitive fish show with beautiful and exotic livebearers, an all-day auction of fish and dry goods, and a vendor and manufacturer exposition. But Clappsaddle feels it was the extracurricular activities that put Texas over the top in the bidding. “It was probably because we offered two fantastic collecting trips (Coleto Creek and San Marcos River), which feature wild mollies, cichlids, killies, rare Gambusia, and aquatic plants,” Clappsaddle explained, “and tours of our fish hatchery, as well as the Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center at Texas State University.”

Texas hobbyists will also benefit from the Convention. “ALA members from around the world will be bringing fish and plants to San Antonio that most Texas fishkeepers have only seen in books or on the Internet” explained ALA Chairman Rit Forcier. “There will also be opportunities to share experiences with a multinational group of aquarists.”

The ALA Convention is open to all hobbyists and their families, regardless of membership. Attendees can visit for a few hours or stay the whole weekend. For more information, visit the ALA website at www.livebearers. org, or the Houston Livebearers Association at www.hla.fotaswebsite. com. Registration materials will be available by year’s end.

Aquarium societies or groups of hobbyists interested in hosting the ALA Convention in 2009 or beyond can download the Hosting Criteria Document and Application at the ALA website.

Limia nigrofasciata, male above, female below.

Limias range in size from 1 to 3 inches, so they are very suitable for the aquarium. They share a characteristic dorsal spot, at least in their juvenile stage. Haitian species are often characterized by striping on the bodies, and Hispaniolan species often have some color in the dorsals. Many have shimmering scales and contrasting body colors in the flanks versus the finnage. I have found that the colors of limias tend to get better with age, so hobbyists need to be patient, as the original seller of my lot of L. sulphurophila had told me to be.

Nearly all limias mate via “sneak copulation,” which is where males come from underneath and behind without any courtship display to entice a female. In fishdom, this type of behavior generally results in less elaborate size, color, and finnage in males. But three species (and perhaps the tiger limia) do court their females, serving up interesting behavioral displays for the hobbyist. They are the closely related L. perugiae and L. nigrofasciata (“humpbacked limia”) from Hispaniola, as well as what may be the most ancestral Limia,

Hans-Joachim Richter

Ted Coletti

Limia sulphurophila, female.

Jamaica’s L. melanogaster (“black belly limia”). These three species are all truly lovely in terms of their colors, finnage, and unique shapes.

Limia tend to enjoy calcium hard or brackish water that is alkaline. Most do just fine in a 10-gallon tank. I like to keep the temperatures a bit on the high side, near 80°F, until I can ascertain the hardiness or domestication of the stock I am working with. All these water variables coincide with the native Caribbean conditions.

So the next time you’re at an auction and a bag of these Caribbean jewels comes up, don’t be afraid to plunk down some extra coins for these interesting livebearers.