The Weitzman Tetra (Poecilocharax weitzmani) is widely distributed throughout several river drainages in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru, and is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Black Darter Tetra or Black morpho tetra.     Wild specimens collected from Colombia and Brazil are much more intensely colored, and specimens collected from Peru may […]

Read the full story

The Green Fire Tetra (Aphyocharax rathbuni) is found in the clear waters of the Paraguay river basin in South America, and  is known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Redflank Bloodfin or Rathbun’s Bloodfin tetra.   In addition to being found in the Paraguay river basin, it is also endemic to the Paraná and […]

Read the full story

The Bucktoothed Tetra (Exodon paradoxus) is found in the Rio Branco, Guyana and throughout the Brazilian Amazon. They are usually found over sandy bottoms in slower moving waters that flow through the savanna like grasslands. Although the Bucktoothed Tetra gets its name from their uniquely designed mouth that allow it to rip the scales from […]

Read the full story

The Managuense Cichlid (Parachromis managuense) is a large Central American species that is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Jaguar Cichlid or Aztec Cichlid.   The species was originally found in Lake Managua, Nicaragua where it got its name but is distributed throughout Central America from Honduras to Costa Rica. The Jaguar […]

Read the full story

The Firemouth Cichlid (Thorichthys meeki) is found in the shallow, slower moving (and often turbid) rivers of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, south through Belize and into northern Guatemala. The Firemouth Cichlid’s body color is a pearlescent turquoise blue, with red edged scales. The “throat” and breast areas are colored a brick to fire engine red, […]

Read the full story

The Rainbow Tetra (Nematobrycon lacortei) is peaceful shoaling species that is found in sluggish tributaries, small quiet rivers (Río Calima) and streams of the Rio San Juan basin in western Colombia, S.A. The Rainbow Tetra (Nematobrycon lacortei) is rarer and the more colorful of the two species of Emperor Tetras that are found in Colombia. […]

Read the full story

The Candy Cane Tetra (Hyphessobrycon bentosi) is also known as the HY511, Ornate Tetra, White Tip Tetra, False Rosy Tetra, Bentos Tetra, and White Fin Ornate Tetra. Hyphessobrycon bentosi is native to the Amazon basin in Peru and are found in the densely vegetated, shaded, slow moving creeks that branch off from the Amazon River. […]

Read the full story

The Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis) is an Amazon River species that was first collected from the Rio Tapajos Basin, near Santarém, Brazil.   It is found in both the Rio Tapajos and stretches of the Amazon River where they join together at Santarem. Lemon Tetras are one of the deeper bodied tetras that have a “diamond” […]

Read the full story

The Colombian Tetra (Hyphessobrycon columbianus) also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Blue Flame Tetra, Blue Red Tetra, and Colombian Red Fin Tetra is found only in the Río Acandí in Chocó Department, northern Colombia, close to the Panama border. Originally misidentified as Hyphessobrycon ecuadorensis, the Colombian Tetra has a deep body that […]

Read the full story

Marbled Hatchetfish (Carnegiella strigata) have an enormous range that extends throughout Amazonian Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Columbia, the Río Orinoco system in Venezuela, and some coastal drainages in Guyana and Suriname. Marbled Hatchetfish are exclusive to acidic blackwater environments characterized by thick, overhanging vegetation and substrates covered with fallen branches, tree roots, and various types of leaf litter.   […]

Read the full story

The Blackwing Hatchetfish (Carnegiella marthae) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Marthae Silver Hatchet. It is found locally in ‘ Caño de Quiribana, near Caicara, Venezuela and is thought to range throughout the upper Orinoco drainage in Venezuela and the rio Negro drainage in Amazonian Brazil with occasional specimens collected from the […]

Read the full story

The Spotted Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus maculatus) is found on the Pacific slopes of Panama, and in the Pacific and Atlantic drainages of Colombia, to the Maracaibo basin of Venezuela. The Spotted Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus maculatus) is one of three known species of the genus Gasteropelecus.    The other two species which are also often kept in an […]

Read the full story

Cochu’s Blue Tetra (Boehlkea fredcochui) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Blue King Tetra, and erroneously as the Blue Tetra. This species, Boehlkea fredcochuik, has been absent from the aquarium trade for many years, with most tropical fish keeping shops mistakenly selling the Blue Tetra (Knodus borki), as Cochu’s Blue Tetra […]

Read the full story

Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus) are are found in large numbers in fresh and estuarine waters along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States where they occur from Massachusetts to Texas. These small decapod shrimp are collectively known as “carideans.” Although there are many freshwater species, Grass Shrimp are commonly known to tropical fish […]

Read the full story

The Common Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus sternicla) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the River Hatchetfish and erroneously the Silver Hatchetfish. The Common Hatchetfish is found the southern tributaries and smaller streams of the Amazon in Brazil, Guyana, and Surinam. They prefer areas where there is an abundance of surface vegetation where they can […]

Read the full story

Silver Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus levis) are found only in open water of larger igarapés, streams, and floodplain lakes of the lower Amazon river basin and the lower sections of the rios Tocantins and Guamá in the state of Pará, Brazi. Because of their heavily keeled body shape, all Gasteropelecids are commonly referred to by tropical fish […]

Read the full story

The Purple Spaghetti Eel (Moringua raitaborua) is an extremely rare member of the moringua family that is found in the Gangetic estuary (West Bengal) in India, Matla and Bidyadhari river, and probably Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.   They are also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Pink Paddletail Eel, Purple Spaghetti Eel, […]

Read the full story

The Striped Lamprologus (Neolamprologus buescheri) is a Lake Tanganyikan cichlid that inhabits areas of shoreline with rocky substrates from Tembwe II on the western coast, all around the southern part of the lake, up to Samazi on the eastern side.   Several geographical morphs are available from other areas of the lake, including “gombi”, “kachese”, […]

Read the full story

The Mekong Tiger Perch (Datnioides undecimradiatus) is another species of freshwater tripletails that are also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the North Thailand Tigerfish, Thinbar datnoid, Siamese tigerfish, Gold datnoid, and Tiger datnoid. The Mekong Tiger Perch is found in the large tributaries and main waterways of the Mekong River Basins of Thailand, […]

Read the full story

The Siamese Tiger Fish (Datnioides pulcher) is also referred to as Siamese Tiger Perch, Widebar Tigerfish, Widebar Datnoid, Gold Datnoid and Wide Bar Dat/Tigerfish by tropical fish keeping enthusiasts. Siamese Tiger Fish come from the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins of SouthEast Asia and are one of only three true freshwater species of Datnioides. Siamese […]

Read the full story