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Animal husbandry, Bonn

Our task

In addition to the live animals in the exhibition area (Water - Life in the River), the Museum Koenig also houses a scientific live animal facility. In modern terrarium and aquarium facilities, lower vertebrates (fish, amphibians and reptiles) and various invertebrates are kept and bred for research purposes. Keeping live animals enables investigations that are difficult to carry out in the wild and thus provides important findings, e.g. on behavioural and reproductive biology, larval development or functional morphology. The information obtained in this way supports collection-based research and field work on taxonomic and evolutionary biology issues, but also helps to protect species by collecting useful data for conservation breeding programmes or for the protection of natural populations.

Fish

The focus of research in the aquaria is on Southeast Asian fishes from Sulawesi. Current projects are investigating the functional and ecomorphology of an adaptive radiation of the sunray fishes of Sulawesi, especially their jaw apparatus and its effect on feeding behaviour, as well as the evolution of the unique reproductive strategy of rice fishes, which is being explored by means of breeding lines.

Frogs

In amphibians, research focusses on the developmental biology of tropical frogs, their larval development, comparative larval morphology and bioacoustics.

Contact person

Contact person

PD Dr. Fabian Herder

  • Head of Vertebrate Department
  • Head of Section Ichthyology

Phone: +49 228 9122 255
E-Mail: f.herder@leibniz-lib.de

Projects

There are currently no projects available

Publications

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    2026

  • 2026/06

    De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Jiménez, F.C., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A.L., Oatley, G., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.

    Show more...

    Ancient and Recent Riverine Gene Flow Contributed to the Adaptive Radiation of Sailfin Silversides in Wallace's Dreampond

    Molecular Ecology, 11, 35

  • 2026/05

    De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Campuzano Jiménez, F., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A., Oatley, G., Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life, p., Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations, D.P.c., Tree of Life, C.I.c., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.

    Show more...

    Ancient and recent riverine gene flow contributed to the adaptive radiation of sailfin silversides in Wallace's Dreampond

    Molecular Ecology

  • 2026/03

    Ellerbrok, J.S., Sporbert, M., Schreiner, V., Ristok, C., Farwig, N., Hähn, G.J.A., Klenke, R., Seidler, G., Marx, J.M., Schmidt, A., Settele, J., Wirth, C., Albert, C., Bässler, C., Braunisch, V., Brunken, H., Conze, K., Eichenberg, D., Eisenhauer, N., Ellwanger, G., Ferenczy, J., Gerlach, B., Haase, D., Harpke, A., Herder, F., Jansen, F., Kamp, J., Katzenberger, J., Keil, P., Kühn, E., Mascarenhas, A., Müller, J., Musche, M., Nguyen, H.H., Pogoda, P., Ssymank, A., Suhling, F., Vatterrott, H., Wellmann, T., Bruelheide, H.

    Show more...

    Determinants of Terrestrial and Limnic Species Richness in Germany

    Diversity and Distributions, 3, 32

  • 2026/01

    Recommendation of scientific fish husbandry: Sulawesi ricefishes (Beloniformes, Adrianichthyidae)

    Bulletin of Fish Biology, 1, 21

  • 2025

  • 2025/12

    Wantania, L.L., Möhring, J., Koppetsch, T., Miesen, F.W., Wowor, D., Boneka, F., Herder, F.

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    Sulawesi Stream Fish Communities Disconnected From the Sea: Absence of Diadromous and Dominance of Exotic Species

    Freshwater biology, 12, 70

  • 2025/04

    De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Campuzano Jiménez, F., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A., Oatley, G., Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life programme, ., Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: DNA Pipelines collective, ., Tree of Life Core Informatics collective, ., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.

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    Multiple instances of river-lake introgression in the adaptive radiation of sailfin silversides in Wallace’s Dreampond

  • 2025/03

    Möhring, J., Hüllen, S., Martin, S., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Schwarzer, J., Herder, F.

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    Increased phenotypic diversity as a consequence of ecological opportunity in the island radiation of Sulawesi ricefishes (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae)

    BMC Ecology and Evolution, 1, 25

  • 2025/02

    Möhring, J., Mokodongan, D.F., Gani, A., Wowor, D., Annawaty, ., Böhne, A., Herder, F.

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    A new and unique species of ricefish (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae: Oryzias) from the Lariang River Basin, Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the first known sympatric ricefish species pair from Sulawesi rivers

    Ichthyology & Herpetology, 1, 113

  • 2025/02

    Wantania, L.L., Koppetsch, T., Möhring, J., Miesen, F.W., Wowor, D., Boneka, F., Herder, F.

    Show more...

    Sulawesi stream fish communities depend on connectivity and habitat diversity

    Journal of Fish Biology, 106

  • 2025/01

    Stahl, J., Brunken, H., Geiger, M., Herder, F.

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    A Graphical Key for the Identifi cation of German Freshwater Fishes - Grafischer Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Süßwasserfische Deutschlands

    Bulletin of Fish Biology, 20

  • 2023

  • 2023/10

    Spanke, T., Gabelaia, M., Flury, J.M., Hilgers, L., Wantania, L.L., Misof, B., Wipfler‍, B., Wowor, D., Mokodongan, D.F., Herder, F., Schwarzer, J.

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    A landmark‐free analysis of the pelvic girdle in Sulawesi ricefishes (Adrianichthyidae): How 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics can complement each other in the analysis of a complex structure

    Ecology and Evolution, 10, 13

  • 2023/08

    Flury, J.M., Meusemann, K., Martin, S., Hilgers, L., Spanke, T., Böhne, A., Herder, F., Mokodongan, D.F., Altmüller, J., Wowor, D., Misof, B., Nolte, A.W., Schwarzer, J.

    Show more...

    Potential contribution of ancient introgression to the evolution of a derived reproductive strategy in ricefishes

    Genome biology and evolution, 8, 15

  • 2023/02

    Stinnesbeck, E.S., Herder, F., Rust, J., Stinnesbeck, W.

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    Taphonomy of the teleost Tselfatia formosa Arambourg, 1943 from Vallecillo, NE Mexico

    PloS one, 2, 18

  • 2022

  • 2022/12

    Kilian, I.C., Espeland, M., Mey, W., Wowor, D., Hadiaty, R.K., von Rintelen, T., Herder, F.

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    DNA barcoding unveils a high diversity of caddisflies (Trichoptera) in the Mount Halimun Salak National Park (West Java; Indonesia)

    PeerJ, 10

  • 2022/12

    Wasiljew, B.D., Pfaender, J., Wipfler, B., Wantania, L.L., Herder, F.

    Show more...

    Functional morphology of prey capture in stream-dwelling sailfin silversides (Telmatherinidae) based on high-speed video recordings

    Zoomorphology, 3-4, 141

  • 2022/10

    Schüller, A., Vehof, J., Hilgers, L., Spanke, T., Wipfler‍, B., Wowor, D., Mokodongan, D.F., Wantania, L.L., Herder, F., Parenti, L.R., Iwamatsu, T., Schwarzer, J.

    Show more...

    How to stay attached—Formation of the ricefish plug and changes of internal reproductive structures in the pelvic brooding ricefish, Oryzias eversi Herder et al. (2012) (Beloniformes: Adrianichthyidae)

    Journal of morphology, 11, 283

  • 2022/06

    Gani, A., Suhendra, N., Herder, F., Schwarzer, J., Mohring, J., Montenegro, J., Herjayanto, M., Mokodongan, D.F.

    Show more...

    A new endemic species of pelvic-brooding ricefish (Beloniformes: Adrianichthyidae: Oryzias) from Lake Kalimpa'a, Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Bonn zoological bulletin, 1, 71

  • 2022/04

    Flury, J.M., Hilgers, L., Herder, F., Spanke, T., Misof, B., Wowor, D., Boneka, F.B., Wantania, L.L., Mokodongan, D.F., Mayer, C., Nolte, A.W., Schwarzer, J.

    Show more...

    The genetic basis of a novel reproductive strategy in Sulawesi ricefishes: How modularity and a low number of loci shape pelvic brooding

    Evolution, 5, 76

  • 2022/03

    Herder, F., Möhring, J., Flury, J.M., Utama, I.V., Wantania, L., Wowor, D., Boneka, F.B., Stelbrink, B., Hilgers, L., Schwarzer, J., Pfaender, J.

    Show more...

    More non-native fish species than natives, and an invasion of Malawi cichlids, in ancient Lake Poso, Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Aquatic Invasions, 1, 17

  • 2022/02

    Hilgers, L., Roth, O., Nolte, A.W., Schüller, A., Spanke, T., Flury, J.M., Utama, I.V., Altmüller, J., Wowor, D., Misof, B., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Schwarzer, J.

    Show more...

    Inflammation and convergent placenta gene co-option contributed to a novel reproductive tissue

    Current Biology, 3, 32

  • 2022/01

    Stinnesbeck, E.S., Wägele, J.W., Herder, F., Rust, J., Stinnesbeck, W.

    Show more...

    A fish-parasitic isopod (Cymothoidae) on the pachyrhizodont Goulmimichthys roberti from the lower Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) Vallecillo plattenkalk, NE Mexico

    Cretaceous Research, 129

  • 2021

  • 2021/12

    Spanke, T., Hilgers, L., Wipfler, B., Flury, J.M., Nolte, A.W., Utama, I.V., Misof, B., Herder, F., Schwarzer, J.

    Show more...

    Complex sexually dimorphic traits shape the parallel evolution of a novel reproductive strategy in Sulawesi ricefishes (Adrianichthyidae)

    BMC ecology and evolution, 21

  • 2021/11

    Wasiljew, B.D., Pfaender, J., Wipfler, B., Gabelaia, M., Utama, I.V., Wantania, L.L., Herder, F.

    Show more...

    Sexual dimorphism in an adaptive radiation: Does intersexual niche differentiation result in ecological character displacement?

    Ecology and Evolution, 21, 11

  • 2021/08

    Freudiger, A., Josi, D., Thünken, T., Herder, F., Flury, J.M., Marques, D.A., Taborsky, M., Frommen, J.G.

    Show more...

    Ecological variation drives morphological differentiation in a highly social vertebrate

    Functional ecology, 10, 35

  • 2021/05

    Wagner, P., Ihlow, F., Hartmann, T., Flecks, M., Schmitz, A., Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Integrative approach to resolve the Calotes mystaceus Duméril & Bibron, 1837 species complex (Squamata: Agamidae)

    Bonn zoological bulletin, 1, 70

Employees

  • Henning Monscheuer

    ztm Animal husbandry Ichthyology Bonn Animal keeper

    Phone: +49 228 9122 274
    E-mail: h.monscheuer@leibniz-lib.de

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