A spiny, thorn-like appearance makes N. marina one of the more
unique-looking Najas species.
some finding it relatively easy to grow and others experiencing an
inability to maintain the plant. This could be caused by a difference
in growing conditions and subspecies of plants.
N. indica
Another Najas species that is used in the aquarium is N. indica.
It’s native to tropical Asia and Japan. The species name refers to the
plant originating in India, where it was first collected. The plant
was described as Caulinia indica by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in
1801, and later as a Najas by Adelbert von Chamisso in 1829.
It’s a lovely plant with fine leaves that grow thickly together,
sometimes with a slight curl to the leaf and sometimes with
straighter leaves. This may be the result of different varieties or the
conditions it’s grown in. N. indica is more difficult to grow than
N. guadalupensis. It is less tolerant of lower light levels and needs
good lighting to grow well. It is considered somewhat less fragile
in that it doesn’t break apart quite as easily as N. guadalupensis, but
it is still fairly fragile compared to other aquarium stemmed plants.
It’s also slower growing, which makes it less likely to take over an
aquarium the way N. guadalupensis can.
Attractive, Useful Plants
The genus Najas offers many aquatic plants that can be attractive,
unusual, and useful in the aquarium. Though I’ve only mentioned
three species here, several others are used in the aquarium and,
with about 40 species in the genus—all of which are aquatic—there
are many more possibilities.
Though they are not usually available commercially due to
easy breakage of stems, they can be a great addition to the home
aquarium. Najas can often be particularly valuable in breeding tanks,
where fast-growing plants with a lot of hiding spaces are useful for
covering fish from aggressive tankmates and fry from hungry adults.
It also offers lovely, fully green plants that work well as background
plants, such as N. marina, which offers a surprisingly unique,
attention-grabbing appearance. This genus of aquatic plants offers
species for almost every type of planted aquarium. D
establishments. It may be more commonly available in Europe than
North America. The plant is being traded as N. roraima or N. sp.
“Roraima.” When I first saw photos of this species, it reminded me
of a very bushy N. marina with a lot of red or brown coloration on
the plants. I haven’t been able to confirm if it’s the same plant. I
also haven’t been able to find any scientific reference for N. roraima.
I did, however, find mention from a hobbyist of it being from the
state of Roraima in Brazil, which is the least populated and most
northern state in the country. The location is famous for Mount
Roraima, a spectacular, giant block of rock thrust up through the
Earth. It’s quite possible the plant came from this area and is a
subspecies of N. marina, or perhaps a similar-looking species of
Najas, though so far I haven’t been able to find any other reported
species of Najas that looks like N. marina. It may just grow fuller in
more favorable conditions.
I have recently acquired some N. marina and will be trying some
of it in a tank with CO2 to see if there is a notable difference in
the appearance of the plant when compared to one grown without
additional CO2, and to see how it compares to the photos of N. sp.
“Roraima.” In general, I’ve noticed that there seems to be a range
of different experiences of aquarists trying to grow N. marina, with
MMM...Caviar!
34 www.tfhmagazine.com
August 2011
