# Tobago jungle freshwater wildlife



## scapegoat (13 Jan 2013)

Last summer I visited Tobago in the Caribbean, It's very close to Venezuela so shares a lot of its wildlife and luckily hasn't been ravaged by tourism. 

Whilst on a jungle trek I came across 2 fishes in a stream as well as various crabs and crayfish. 

The fish look a lot like a killifish possibly panchax but am unsure, anyone have any ideas?












As for the crabs they varied in size up to around the size of a dinner plate. According to the locals they fed on small snakes! I would have loved to have had the time to observe them long enough to witness this but alas our guide was far more interested in the bird life. The one pictured was around 20-30cm across.







There were 2 visible species of crayfish, one with large red claws and another no claws, unfortunately the pictures of the clawed ones were very blurred so haven't included them. At one point I found a rockpool with a whole family living in it feeding on a dead crab, it was stunning and very inspirational to see this real life aquascape bubbling with life. Wild crayfish have always been on my list of things to see in my lifetime and to see baby ones and adult ones all sharing a meal was amazing.


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## Arana (13 Jan 2013)

Wow! can't help with the ID i'm afraid but have to say what a fantastic experience that sounds, would love to go somewhere like that


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## dw1305 (13 Jan 2013)

Hi all,
Trinidad and Tobago are different from all the other islands, because they are former parts of S. America that were turned into Islands when the sea level rose at the end of the last Ice Age, and they have a much greater range of species than other islands (why you get Plecs etc). Because of that I think the Killli is likely to be a species of _Rivulus,_ and if it was quite big? _R. hartii._
I also think the Crayfish in the photo is possibly a very large Shrimp, the Crayfish with claws should be _Atya scabra._

cheers Darrel


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## scapegoat (13 Jan 2013)

Ah Darrel thanks a lot for the info! I did wander about the clawless crayfish but as the locals called them crayfish I went with it. I've found a picture of the clawed ones..  Google Image Result for http://www.ttorc.org.tt/club_events/club_events-2007/08-02-tobago-18aug07/3-Saturday%252018/9-Sheldon-Tobago-Aug07-29.JPG


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