The Golden Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Beckford’s Pencilfish or Brown Pencilfish. The Golden Pencilfish has a long, elongated body that is gold with a silvery band along the middle of the flanks, bordered above by a reddish band, and below by a blackish band with a cream […]

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The Barred Espei Pencilfish (Nannostomus espei) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Espei’s Pencilfish, Four-Barred Pencilfish, or Banded Pencilfish and is endemic to the Mazaruni River system in Guyana, from the Peaima to Tiboku waterfalls, including many of its tributaries such as the Kurupung, Eping, and Tabuba.   There are also unconfirmed occurrences […]

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The Lohachata Botia Loach (Botia lohachata) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Yoyo Loach, Almorha Loach, Pakistani Loach, Reticulated Loach, and Y-Loach. Because only a single juvenile specimen was used to originally describe Botia lohachata, the validity of the species has never been fully resolved.   Grant in 2007 considered it as […]

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The Featherfin Rainbow (Iriatherina werneri) also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Threadfin Rainbow is found between Merauke and the mouth of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea, and Lakes Kala and Bosset.  In Australia, they are found in the numerous river basins of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland state and in […]

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The Congo Dwarf Clawed Frog (Hymenochirus boettgeri) is by far the most common species of aquatic frog sold to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts in the pet trade.   They are distributed throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, and Nigeria. The Hymenochirus genus contains two species (Hymenochirus boettgeri and Hymenochirus curtipes) and possibly a […]

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The Western Clawed Frog (Xenopus tropicalis) also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Tropical Clawed Frog inhabits the tropical and subtropical rain forests of Western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon and eastern Zaire where it inhabits slow moving rivers, streams, swamps, freshwater lakes, marshes, ponds, canals, and ditches throughout their range. They have […]

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The African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Xenopus, African Clawed Toad, or African Claw Toed frog and is the only amphibian that actually has claws.   It is found in Nigeria, and from Sudan to South Africa where they are plentiful in the rivers and ponds within […]

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The Dwarf African Frog (Hymenochirus curtipes) is a true aquatic species that many tropical fish keeping enthusiasts find a delightful addition to community aquariums.  They are native to the Congo region of Africa where they are found along the bottoms of shallow rivers, creeks, and ponds where they scavenge around the mud and leaf litter […]

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The Long Nosed Distichodus (Distichodus Lusosso) also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Long Snout Distichodus, is a seldom seen species that originates from Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Juveniles are frequently misidentified and sold as the more common Six Banded Distichodus (Distichodus sexfasciatus) which is found in […]

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The Chinese High Fin Banded Shark (Myxocyprinus asiaticus) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Chinese Banded Shark, Chinese Sailfin Sucker, Banded Loach, High Fin Loach, Sailfin Sucker, Topsail Sucker, Asian Sucker, Chinese Sucker, Wimple Carp, Hilsa Herring, Asian Zebra High Fin Shark, Chinese Emperor, Siamese Sucker, Chinese Banded Shark , and […]

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The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey (Cichlasoma octofasciatum) also known scientifically as Archocentrus octofasciatus, Nandopsis octofasciatum, or Rocio octofasciata is found in northern and Central America from the Papaloapan River in southern Mexico to the Ulua River in Honduras. Although it has become somewhat more common in tropical fish keeping shops, it is a somewhat rare […]

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The Endler’s Livebearer (Poecilia wingei) is believed to be endemic to two coastal lagoons in northeast Venezuela but was originally discovered by Franklyn F. Bond in 1937 and later rediscovered by Professor John A. Endler in Laguna de Patos, Cumana. Laguna de Patos was originally a brackish water lake that was cut off from the […]

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Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) were originally native to Mexico and are known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Mexican salamanders (Ambystoma mexicanum) or Mexican Walking fish.   Before Mexico City’s growth in the basin of Mexico, the Axolotl was native to two high altitude lakes, Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco. Of these two, only the remnants of […]

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The Green Terror Cichlid (Aequidens rivulatus) is a South American river cichlid found primarily in the Rio Tumbes in Peru, and the Rio Esmeraldas in Ecuador. Green Terror Cichlids are collected from over a variety of substrates that include mud, sand, gravel, large river rocks, and even thickly layered beds of dead leaves.  They are […]

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The Nicaraguense Cichlid (Herichthys nicaraguense) correctly identified as Hypsophrys nicaraguensis, is endemic to the Atlantic slope of Central America from the San Juan drainage, including Lake Nicaragua (in Costa Rica and Nicaragua), to the Matina River drainage in Costa Rica. The Nicaraguense Cichlid is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Moga, Parrot […]

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The Cigar Shark (Leptobarbus rubripinna) is a migratory species that is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Mad fish, Red Finned Cigar Shark, or Saltan Fish. The Cigar Shark is a pelagic schooling species that is found in the Mekong, Chao Phraya, and Mae Khlong river drainages throughout Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, […]

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The Apollo Shark (Luciosoma spilopleura) is a beautiful, fast moving, torpedo shaped Cprinid that is found in the Malay peninsula, Thailand, Borneo, Brunei, and Sumatra. Also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Apollo Sharkminnow, Apollo Sharks are active surface swimmers that inhabit clear fast flowing forest rivers and streams with rocky, stone, or […]

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The Fire Eel (Mastacembelus erthrotaenia) is found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Borneo and Sumatra. Fire Eels are voracious nocturnal predators that usually inhabit slow to briskly moving rivers with fine sediment bottoms and spend most of their daylight hours buried in the substrate with only their snouts visible.   […]

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The Peacock Eel (Macrognathus siamensis) is found in the Mekong, Chao Phraya, Maeklong, river basins in Peninsular and Southeast Thailand.  They are also commonly known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Spot-Finned Spiny Eel, Peacock Spiny Eel, Striped Peacock Eel, or Siamese Spiny Eel. Depending on where they are collected from, Peacock Eels are […]

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The Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus vitreolus) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Ghost Catfish, Phantom Catfish, Ghost Glass Cat, Indian Ghost, Ghost Fish, or Glass Cat.   It is a small Asian catfish species endemic to Thailand and is the most commonly seen in tropical fish keeping circles. Kryptopterus vitreolus is found […]

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