On two expeditions in 2007 and 2008 Heiko Bleher was able to discover for the first time in history by white man what he believes is the largest natural freshwater aquarium in the world. It is a crystal clear, over 60 km long river covered almost in its entire length with underwater plants...

Colombia, 10 December 2009

This amazing beautiful creek, in an remote and untouched area of the Colombian Amazon in the region of the Apaporis, never visited by white man before and with a very difficult access (only by foot) was discovered recently by Heiko Bleher with the help of a Macuna Indian. Here some photos of this unique habitat and a underwater film in the same by Natasha Khardina

Colombia – Caquetá, 7 December 2009 

This creek Heiko explored by walking over land with Natasha and Alirio and reached this almost untouched small waterway discovering many miniature fish species in a mini-habitat. This is to show how little space some fishes live all their live, often smaller then a very small (Nano)aquarium. In the Caño Tonnina was one area where the creek broadens and in a 60 cm deep hole Natasha was able to film the cichlids living there, including a red-lip Hero species, possibly new. Enjoy…

Colombia – Inirida, 2 December 2009

Heiko Bleher did research for the first time with the native fisherman Pedro from Inirida and Senhor Ernesto in a very remote small creek called Caño Sardiña, a right-had tributary of the upper Caño Bocón, which is an affluent of the Rio Inirida in Colombia. This tiny Caño was very difficult to enter with a small dugout but had an incredible wealth of fishes including some new species. Here hear one can see a few of the nearly 50 different species he found and a nice video from Natasha of this underwater habitat and its fishes including Cardinal tetras.

List of past – present – future expeditions

Colombia – Atabapo, 28 November 2009

End of November, during one of Heiko Bleher's 2009 Amazon expeditions, he also researched along the Atabapo and it tributaries. He returned after many years as he has done almost yearly expeditions across Venezuela from end of the 1960s into the late 1980s. (End of the 1960s bringing back for the first time into the aquarium Hobby the most majestic of all aquarium fishes, the real Pterophyllum altum Pellegrin, 1904.) See what he found just in one spot of very rocky area and the nice video Natasha under water of some amazing Dekeyseria, possibly 3 species...

Philippines – Gonzaga, 16 November 2009

The regional Director for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Mrs. Jovita P. Ayson had suggested to Heiko Bleher to do research in the unspoiled and untouched Wangag River in Gonzaga, Peña Blanca. And with the kind help of Gonzaga’s Municipal Mayor Heiko was able to do an inventory of this pristine river

List of past – present – future expeditions

Philippines – Cagayan, 15 November 2009

Heiko was invited by BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources), the Director Malkolm I. Sarmiento, Jr. to do research on the Philippine freshwater habitats and its fishes. Heiko started in the north-eastern part of Luzon and was kindly assisted by the regional Director Mrs. Jovita P. Ayson

List of past – present – future expeditions

Iran – Strait of Hormoz region, September 2009

Heiko’s most recent field trip was to collect the monotypic and most eastern found Cichlidae in south-western Iran restricted to a few locations around the Strait of Hormoz. The area is drying up and this unique species is threatened by extinction as it is only found there…

Including video

List of past – present – future expeditions

South Western Australia, June 2009

After the 8^th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in Fremantle, Western Australia, Sven O. Kullander and Heiko Bleher explored the extreme south western part of Australia in search for the only neck-bending fish on Earth, and its mates – all freshwater species of that region…

Australia – South Western Region, June 2009