. Ecuador, Perú : Cuyabeno-Güeppí. Natural history; Natural history. Period of High Water. Of the 184 species registered in this inventory, at least 40 (22%) were not registered in PNY or in the Napo River, and 38 species (20%) were not registered in the Putumayo River. Principal differences are in the specific composition of small characids and silurids that inhabit forest or headwater streams and lentic bodies of water, especially the aguajales. These habitats have received little scientific attention, probably because of their inaccessibility. Nonetheless, many of the large species (such as
. Ecuador, Perú : Cuyabeno-Güeppí. Natural history; Natural history. Period of High Water. Of the 184 species registered in this inventory, at least 40 (22%) were not registered in PNY or in the Napo River, and 38 species (20%) were not registered in the Putumayo River. Principal differences are in the specific composition of small characids and silurids that inhabit forest or headwater streams and lentic bodies of water, especially the aguajales. These habitats have received little scientific attention, probably because of their inaccessibility. Nonetheless, many of the large species (such as the paiche, arahuana, tucunaré, and acarahiíazú) are present in regions where previous studies have taken place. When compared to the results of the recent inventory in NMA, which is approximately 160 km south of Cuyabeno and Güeppí (Hidalgo and Willink 2007), there were few similarities; only -27% of the species were recorded in both inventories. Even though NMA is part of the Napo River watershed, it is located in a headwaters region and as a result there are more fish representative of the Andean foothills than there are in the Cuyabeno and the Güeppí. There are a wide variety of aquatic habitats in the Cuyabeno and the Güeppí including black water and clear water, headwaters, headwater divides, flooded areas, as well as an interesting hydrological and nutrient liberation dynamics (Fig. 37) that explain great species abundance and richness despite the aquatic systems' overall low primary productivity (see the chapter here on Geology, Hydrology, and Soils). For example, rapid water level changes within the lagoons favor large species, such as paiche, that search for food during periods of high water; and illiophagous (mud- eating) species, such as boquichicos and Curimatidae, take advantage of the nutrients deposited on the bottom of the lagoons. In other cases, when the white waters of the Aguarico and Putumayo Rivers flow vari
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