2016 Peru

[MuskieBait]

Here we go! Hope you enjoy this virtual trip to Peru!

This trip almost didn't happened TWICE! But I was glad to make the sacrifices to make it happen in the end. Full story on the blog. I spent roughly one week around Cusco and one week in the Peruvian Amazon close to Iquitos. Most of the fishing was done in the Amazon, but I was happy to catch at least one Andean species and two saltwater species. This visit to Peru also allowed me to check off another continent which I have fished. Now I just need Africa and Antarctica :shock:!

The full blog starts here on Day 1 (I'm sure you can navigate through the other days on my blog):

http://muskiebaitadventures.blogspot.ca/...day-1.html

Here are some selected photos. Lots more on my blog.

Cusco











Pisac







Ollantaytambo







Salkantay hike - Highest I've ever hiked so far (4600m)...while having a bout of food poisioning!















Machu Picchu







Peruvian Amazon

















Some interesting food

Guinea pig



Alpaca



Palm weevil larvae



Breaded Arapaima



~~~~~~

And finally, roughtly 50 species from fish from Peru caught on this trip.

Acrobrycon ipanquianus - Species #579



Serrasalmus rhombeus - Species #580 (Red eye and thick black margin on the tail ID this as S. rhombeus)



Pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus) - Species #581



Red Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri) - Species #582



Bloch's Catfish (Pimelodus blochii) - Species #583



Sorubim maniradii - Species #584 (black stripe seems diffuse to me)



Cynodon gibbus - Species #585 (little cousin to the well known Payara. The Payara has much shorter anal fin)



Ageneiosus ucayalensis - Species #586



Triportheus angulatus - Species #587



Tetragonopterus argenteus - Species #588



Metynnis luna - Species #589 (Not sure on this ID...still trying to figure out)



Triportheus albus - Species #590



Flatwhiskered Catfish (Pinirampus pirinampu) - Sepcies #591



Trahira (Hoplias malabaricus) - Species #592



Spotted Pike-characin (Boulengerella maculata) - Species #593



Brycon melanopterus - Species #594



Mesonauta mirificus or Mesonauta festivus - Species #595 (It is difficult to tell if this was a M. mirificus or M. festivus)



Crenicichla semicincta - Species #596 (Green diagonal bands on the body is the ID key)



Leporinus moralesi - Species #597 (This species was determined base on range. L. moralesi is found in Peru)



Blue Whale Catfish (Cetopsis coecutiens) - Species #598



Pterodoras granulosus - Species #599



Cichla monoculus - Species #600!!!



Brycon cephalus - Species #601 (Still trying to determine if it really is B. cephalus)



Tucan Fish (Chalceus erythrurus) - Species #602



Spotfin Hatchetfish (Thoracocharax stellatus) - Species #603



Rhamdia sp. - Species #604 (Still trying to determine which Rhamdia species it is. I may never know.)



Hypselecara temporalis - Species #605



Ageneiosus inermis - Species #606



Spotted sorubim (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans) - Species #607



Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii - Species #608



Zamurito (Calophysus macropterus) - Species #609



Laulao Catfish (Brachyplatystoma vaillantii) - Species #610



Ctenobrycon hauxwellianus - Species #611



Aequidens tetramerus - Species #612 (we think these are A. tetramerus...still checking)



Brachychalcinus sp. - Species #613 (some thinks it is B. copei, but I'm not so sure)



Bujurquina syspilus - Species #614



Mylossoma aureum - Species #615



Roeboides myersii - Species #616



Pimelodella cristata - Species #617 (I'm certain it is a Pimelodella, and P. cristata seems the closest)



Aimara (Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus) - Species #618



Erythrinus erythrinus - Species #619



Bandtail Tetra (Moenkhausia dichroura) - Species #620



Glass tetra (Moenkhausia oligolepis) - Species #621



Moenkhausia sp. - Species #622 (This is a different Moenkhausia with faint humeral spot with smaller scales)



Astyanax sp. - Species #623 (In the publication Ornamental Fishes of Peru, this was listed as an Astyanax sp., but no one seems to know which species it is)



Twospot Astyanax (Astyanax bimaculatus) - Species #624



Moenkhausia colletti - Species #625 (Still trying to verify this)



Pimelodella sp. - Species #626 (There are so many similar Pimelodella species, still not sure which one)



Moenkhausia lepidura - Species #627



Giant Blenny (Scartichthys gigas) - Species #628



Chalapo Clinid (Labrisomus philippii) - Species #629

[OldTimer]

You do get around!

More wow adventures. Cool.

Haven't read the blog yet....... saving it for when I have more time - and will respond again thereafter............, but in the meantime - Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Cheers,

OldTimer

[zippyFX]

Nice trip! Looks like it was fun.... Love all the fish as usual. My wife was really groosed out on your choice of food (guinea pigs)

[MuskieBait]

Thanks guys!

Zippy, guinea pigs are really, really good. I loved it. It is farmed as a food animal in Peru. They have been domesticated and farmed for hundreds of years. If I have a choice between fried guinea pig vs. fried chicken, I would pick guinea pig in a heartbeat. They skin is so crispy when done properly, and the meat is so juicy and tender...MMMMMMMMMMMMM...