My friend Renan and I visit a place where I used to snorkel and film fishes underwater while marvelling at the array of aquatic plants. However, with the early advent of the dry season, the habitat is completely changed. Even so, some of the plants manage to survive!
I show what the habitat looked like during the wet season and contrast it with our visit during the harsh dry months, while demonstrating the variety of amazing plants and fishes that call it home. This kind of seasonal habitat is known as an 'ephemeral pool' and is typical killifish habitat, in this case, for the likely critically endangered Melanorivulus rossoi.
The habitat is surrounded by intensively-farmed land, which has already seen most of the nearby seasonal marshes drained, turned into soy or cattle farms, or poisoned by agro-toxins. The habitat here is a man-made depression which has been colonised by nature, but its existence is in constant peril, and it could be lost at any moment.
You can see a full video of this habitat during the wet season here: • Flooded Seasonal habit...
Fishes we recorded from this habitat (during multiple visits) include:
Astyanax sp.
Cichlasoma sp.
Characidium laterale
Crenicichla britski
Hoplias aff. malabaricus
Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus
Melanorivulus rossoi
Pyrrhulina australis
Serrapinnus notomelus
Music: Kaah - Valante