Day 378#: Blue Acara
Today's animal of the day is the Blue Acara (Andinoacara pulcher)!
Photo credit: azgardens.com
This species of freshwater fish is a member of the cichlid family and is native to the freshwater streams of Trinidad and Venezuela. They are named after their stunning bright blue coloration, with the larger males having more vivid scales (especially during the breeding season) compared to the smaller females. Like the seven other species within their genus, the blue acara has three anal spines and eight distinct bands on its body, which can be used to tell the members of this genus apart from the other genera in the cichlid family.
Photo credit: Martin Laco
Blue acaras feed mostly on insects like ants, wasps, and bees; however, there's also some evidence that they might be somewhat omnivorous as well, since specimens have been found with plant matter inside their stomachs. However, this omnivorous behavior seems to be restricted to certain regions, with some populations having zero plant matter found in their diet.
Photo credit: Top Fin Aquatics
I've mentioned it before, but some species of fish are way better parents than people give them credit for, and the blue acara is one of them. Once a pair is ready to mate, they will first find and clean a rock for the female to lay her eggs on. Both parents will then guard this rock until their babies hatch, and even after that, they will stick around and protect the little ones from danger. If a predator approaches, the hatchlings will swim into their father's mouth for protection, and once the danger has passed, he'll open his mouth to let them back out. This is surprisingly common for fish and is known as mouthbrooding. Juvenile blue acaras look pretty similar to the adults, and once they reach maturity, they grow to just a bit over 2 inches long.
Photo credit: Loïc Tremblay
Interestingly, the genus that the blue acara belongs to, Adinoacara, was only described in 2009, despite the blue acara and many of the other species within this genus being known way before that. Originally, all the species within Adinoacara were placed in the genus Aequidens, which was what is known as a "catch-all" genus or wastebasket taxon. This means that any species of cichlid that scientists couldn't easily assign to a different genus were placed in Aequidens for convenience's sake. Because of this, many of the species placed in Aequidens weren't actually all that closely related to each other. So, that taxonomic revision was really needed, and seven new genera were created from the species incorrectly placed within Aequidens, which still has like 18 species still placed within it.
Electric Blue color morph (photo credit: KGTropicals)
Because of the blue acara's beautiful coloration and relatively small size compared to some of the other cichlid species, it has become quite popular in the aquarium hobby, with captive specimens being selectively breed to have much brighter colors. Their population in the wild is also considered to be stable with no signs of decline. However, threats such as climate change, pollution, and habitat loss could potentially threaten the species' survival in the future. Especially, since climate change has started to affect the amount of rainfall in the areas where the blue acara lives, which could threaten it and the many other species of freshwater organisms that inhabit this region.
