Biotope One A Study of Flora and Fauna 
Belize River Tributary
by Dieter Duehring
You have to dig to find a name for such a body of water in Belize, as I unfortunately do know know it. There are certainly no beavers in Belize to make a beaver dam though. In 2012 we found this tributary to hold some cichlid species: Astatheros robertsoni, Cryptoheros spilurus, Thorichthys meeki, “Cichlasoma” salvini, Chuco intermedium, Rocio octofasciata, and a variant of vieja synspila with beautiful highlights and not the typical cichlids. We were happy because of the fish we found here.
We saw no adult cichlids here, all were adolescents. This tributary mainly holds younger fish. Talking with the locals they claim there were no tilapia.
At this area of the creek there were a lot of aquatic plants and swords. The substrate had a full range of textures from fine sand to coarse pebbles. The water held driftwood, was very clear, and the temperature was about 27C (80.6F) warm.
Photographs courtesy Dieter Duehring.
