Go Wild Peru Blog

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Fish collecting with friends

20th November 2019

On the 30th October I along with three good friends, Danny Blundell Gerald Buswell and Chris Ralph, set of on a two week tour to search for new fishes in the Madre de Dios and Cusco regions of south eastern Peru. We sampled several new before inaccessible locations and found many species we had not seen before. Of special interest were the Ancistrine species of the Rio Araza drainage. 

A new location, a clear water fast moving stream draining into the lower Las Piedras.

Gerald, Danny and Felix sampling a new stream we called Mad 2a, here we found a mass of small 2 inch Megalechis catfish, a number of Corydoras sp. CW123

Corydoras sp CW123 after being settled into their new UK home.

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As well as the fishing, I was also looking out for flowering orchid species to continue with my Flowering Orchids of South Eastern Peru project, and I was not disappointed, finding around 40 species in flower. 

Orchid species precariously growing on the edge of a large overhanging rock over a very fast turbulent river.

Close up of the flower head.

Written by Ian Fuller