Meet a rare breed who looks after rare breeds!
11:00am Friday 27th August 2010 in News
SOMETHING FISHY: Pete Liptrot, from Bolton Aquarium, with some of the fish they look after
ON Christmas Day, Pete Liptrot will feed the fish.
And just like every other day at Bolton Aquarium, he must remember not to put his hand in the piranha tank: “They could take my finger off with a single bite”.
The 40-year-old, from Lostock, works alongside scouser Paul Dixon. Together, they look after the fish, feed them, maintain their habitat and ensure they are happy — every day of the year.
But there is more to their job than sprinkling fish flakes in the top of a few tanks.
“Every zoo has an obligation to do three things,” explains Pete, “conservation, research and education.
“We offer our resources as a laboratory extension to universities.”
Biology students at Bolton University study the fish’s behaviour, specifically their reproductive behaviour.
“It involves ritualised aggression,”
says Pete. “The females will tend to choose the males that are strutting their stuff the most—the ones with the biggest mouths and the shiniest fins.
“It is a bit like what you might see on a Friday or Saturday night in Bradshawgate.”
As well as the red bellied piranhas and the ever-popular Fred, the huge mother of snails catfish, the aquarium houses a number of rare species.
The tequila goodied, for example, is extinct in the wild, but the aquarium has now been breeding the Mexican fish in captivity for more than 20 years.
“We actually sent a video back to Mexico to teach students at university there how to look after them,”
says Pete.
Then there is the celestial pearl danio, from Burma. This colourful little fish was only discovered in September 2006.
A month later, Bolton’s two aquarium service officers, Pete and Paul, became the first in the world to successfully breed the species in captivity.
“The people from that area had known about the fish for years and years,” Pete says. “But it was unknown to science. Some of these fish, you can’t follow them in the wild. The only way to study them is to hold them in captivity in the right kind of conditions.”
The aquarium strives to provide the fish with as natural a habitat as possible. They are given multispectrum lighting, to replicate natural sunlight, a varied diet — including fruit from Bolton Market — and a stimulating environment.
“We put different structures in their tanks so the males have something to fight over,” says Pete.
“Effectively, they are playing king of the castle.
“It is about exercising dominance in their group.”
In January of this year, when Bolton was brought to a standstill by snow, Pete walked the three miles or so from his home to do his job. In the same month, one of the aquarium’s main attractions, Mack the Knife, a giant green knifefish, died.
At more than 4ft long and weighing 6lbs, it was believed to be the largest of its species in the world and the only one living in captivity in the UK.
“It is always a bit sad when you lose a fish,” said Pete. “You do form an attachment of sorts, but you also have to be fairly pragmatic and scientific.
“All living things die at some point—as long as you can say they have had a good life then you are happy that you have done your job.”
Pete is something of a rare breed himself.
Having worked at the aquarium for the past 17 years, he is still genuinely passionate about his work.
Brought up in Little Hulton, his mum used to take him to the aquarium as a youngster “to keep me quiet”.
He learnt to read with books about fish from Bolton Library.
“Some boys like football, some like cars, I liked fish,” he says.
“I’ll never be rich doing this.
“I have got mates who earn a lot more than me, but they’ll never enjoy their jobs as much as I do.”
For more information, visit the aquarium at Bolton Museum in Le Mans Crescent, or call them on 01204 332200.
