Almost Extinct; the horrendous plight of Paretroplus dambabe (Sparks 2002)
Jean-Claude Nourissat and Patrick de Rham first visited Lake Kinkony in 1991 to search for the elusive Paretroplus petiti (Pelegrin 1929), the second Damba to have been described from Madagascar. The description was based on one holotype, albeit in fairly good condition. Pe. petiti is described as coming from the "Riveriere de Maintimaso - province de Majunga" and it had been assumed that this species correlated to the stunning large damba found in Lake Kinkony and a few surrounding satellite lakes, at least one of which is man-made. The assumption seems to have been made due to the fact that the location of these lakes is some 70km South West of Majumga - which we have discussed as being the type locality for Pe. petiti.
The fish they collected were large (up to 12 or more inches) and very attractive being ivory with more or less red speckles on the body and are locally known as Damba or Kotso. Indeed on their first visit most specimens had to be returned to the lake as they were too large to be shipped to France. On this visit they also caught a few Kotsovato, Paretroplus kieneri (Arnoult 1960) although these were already very rare in the lake, but luckily a stable population exists in a large area of the North west of Madagascar, this being the most common damba species on the island.
On the first visit the avid collectors were able to return with a few specimens from lake Kinkony and an American team also collected a number which formed the foundlings of a captive breeding programme in the US, their successful spawning ìhaving been achieved in outdoor ponds in Florida by breeder extraordinaire - Laif deMason.
On their visits between 1992 and 1997, the population of Damba seemed to be secure and they did not notice a significant decrease in their population or size (often larger fish are caught first and as the population falls smaller specimens are taken until no mature breeding stock is left) but the population of Kotsovato was decreasing. On each trip a few more Damba were brought back to France to hopefully breed. Sadly all was to change and by 2001 the species was all but gone, only 7 specimens being caught during the whole trip. This is a terrible situation as usual bought on by overfishing, drought and changes in the eco structure.
Luckily in 1997, Jean Claude and Patrick also explored 2 further lakes; Andronobe and La digue. The Damba of these lakes are slightly different to those of Kinkony being smaller and more colourful though whether they constitute a separate species in doubtful. They again returned with some fish. As to be expected, by 2001, things had taken a dire turn for the worse. The damba were completely extinct from Kinkony and Andronobe. Luckily La digue, a man made slightly saline lake, still holds a reasonable population, but it is a small lake which does not bode well for the future of this species.
So what is to be done? The obvious answer would be to maintain an urgent captive breeding population of Damba, both in Europe and the US and this on a small scale is being done. The US population consists of specimens from Lake Kinkony and the European population (which by now is very limited) seems to consist mainly of specimens from La digue. It would also be beneficial if La digue could in some way be protected as are other lakes in Madagascar. If fishing with seine nets were to be outlawed then the Damba would be safer as they are not easy to catch by hook and line and hopefully then a sustainable population could be maintained so long as an event doesn't occur to poison the lake. Another idea is that specimens could be transplanted to nearby lakes or areas on nearby islands, obviously taking carefully into account local ecosystems. Indeed the islands of the Seychelles and Reunion have been suggested for this purpose. The IUCN list registers Pe. dambabe as ‘Endangered' but this should in likelihood, taking into account it's restricted range to a couple of lakes, be elevated to ‘Critically Endangered'. Luckily, Malagasy cichlids, are not CITES listed, this would make their maintenance nigh on impossible due to the certification and microchipping required and more importantly most of these precious Paretroplus are being maintained and successfully bred by amateur hobbyists and a few notable zoos, especially Bolton Museum Aquarium and London Zoo in the UK. CITES certification would also mean that specimens, under no circumstances, could be removed from the wild which may be necessary to ensure species survival. Although CITES is very suitable for some species such as Arapaima spp and Scleropages spp, where wild harvesting and demand could effect native populations, it really wouldn't be suitable for vertebrates we need to save maybe by removing them from their native location until they can be safely reintroduced.
The decimation of native Malagasy species seemed to happen fairly early on with settlement by the French. High yielding species like Tilapia, Snakeheads and Carp were introduced and either ate native fish or bullied them from their native habitat by refusing to allow them to spawn. Most waterways and lakes are now virtually devoid of native species unless they are protected or have conditions which are not condisive to the survival of exotics, one example being the Nosivolo river, home of Oxylapia polli, Paratilapia sp and Katria katria. Indeed this river is a protected habitat and native species are faring well! Success can be achieved. Nosey Be lakes also largely seem unaffected by exotic species which is a relief. Sadly it is very unlikely that things will change, Madagascar is one of the world's poorest nations and they need to eat and the West really need to understand this. Can we really expect that the Malagasy should sacrifice more food to save their own species. Some commercial fishing of Malagasy species still occurs, namely Paretroplus polyactis and Ptychochromis grandidieri but the other species do not breed or grow quickly enough to provide a sustainable source of food. This situation leads to the most suitable method of protection being protecting some lakes, for example to protect relic populations of Paretroplus dambabe, Paretroplus maculatus and Paretroplus menarambo. These and other species, such as the almost extinct-in-nature Ptychochromis insolitus should be maintained ex-situ and maybe in the future can be reintroduced.
Back to the fish in question and a talk about taxonomy. It was assumed, at first, that this species was Paretroplus petiti, mainly due to them having been found fairly near the type location of the only holotype of this species. Sparks had a chance to examine this holotype whilst examining the Lake Kinkony Damba and decided that anatomically and from appearance they were a separate species which he named Paretroplus dambabe (Damba - cichlid, Be - big) a nice sounding name which is very self evident! As an aside it appears that the true Paretroplus petiti could correspond to Paretroplus maculatus which would then need to be refered to as Paretroplus petiti, Paretroplus maculatus becoming a junior synonym, I await to see if this occurs!
Although I find Paretroplus dambabe to be attractive, it is hardly a winner in the looks department. As stated earlier, it is a mainly ivory species showing more or less red speckles on the sides and operculum. Black bars can appear and when displaying or angry, the colour whitens considerably. The fish has the graceful shape of all high bodied Damba, much like Pe Menarambo and like the aforementioned fish, possesses a large crescent like tail. The species is large - and can attain between 8 and 12 inches in captivity, the males being slightly larger than females. Colourwise it is hard to tell males and females apart. My female was less well speckled (infact, as the photo shows she was rather plain) but this is definitely not always the case. As with most Paretroplus, Damba are adept at eating snails and other crustacea - they have very sharp pointed teeth protruding like a rabbit, which can pluck food and also give a nasty bite. They also possess more hypertrophied lips than the other high bodied damba. Why this is I do not know. Normally fish possess this trait as they need to suck food from cracks or holes (ref Amphilophus labiatus) but I never witnessed them feeding in this manner. Certainly their lips are about 3 times thicker than a comparably sized Menarambo and these thick lives give them quite a boxer like character which really is rather charming.
Given their size, Damba need spacious accommodation. A 100 gallon aquarium should be considered a minimum and they need to be kept in groups. My pair were extremely aggressive, much more so than other Damba and the female was constantly harassed when she wasn't willing to mate. Luckily the tank was full of rock and Etroplus suratensis which acted as a distraction. This species doesn't possess the aggression of Paretroplus nourisatti but gives it a good run for its money. Sadly this species is so rarely available that pairs are often all that is available so it can be pot-luck. My pair had previously been kept and bred in a divided tank so I guess I was lucky that they cohabited in a larger tank without killing each other. So rock and sand makes for good décor as does bogwood but forget plants! They will be destroyed in a matter of minutes! Good filtration is also required, ideally turning the volume of the aquarium 4-6 times per hour. Most aquarist keeping this rare species will know how to maintain good water conditions so I won't cover that here.
Tank mates would be anything that can stand up for itself - biotopically correct species would be Kotsovato and maybe Paratilapia, don't add other Paretroplus species as they will not be able to compete with the Damba, more than likely being shredded. I managed with Etroplus suratensis but at 16" they were far bigger and just chased the Damba out of their way. It may be best to keep them in a group on their own for maximum enjoyment and breeding potential. Remember a large tank and large fish need large water changes - 50% a week being perfect! Try and match the temperatures as cold water can bring on Whitespot and Madagascan cichlids have very little resistance to this malady. Don't be worried of you notice frayed fins - these fish are pretty hardy and given good water conditions these recover well - split fins are just the nature of these territorial fish. Breeding is another matter. Pairs may spawn in aquaria but useually eat their eggs. Success has been acheived through pond spawning or removing eggs. More information on breeding Paretroplus is available on line.
I hope the future for these fiish is positive and safe but as with all Malagasy species nothing is certain.
