This species was described from a single specimen and included in the genus Leporinus until 2011 at which point the holotype was examined and recognised as corresponding to the fish described as Synaptolaemus cingulatus (Myers & Fernández-Yépez, 1950).

This species was described from Suriname but no specific locality was given.

It’s currently accepted to occur throughout much of the Amazon river system in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia with additional records from coastal drainages of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana plus the island of Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago).

Type locality is giev as ‘Rio Parahyba and tributaries at Mendez; Juiz de Fora; River Doce; River São Matheos; Rio Jequitinhonha; Rio Quenda at Santa Cruz’, all of which pertain to localities within the Paraíba do Sul and Doce river systems in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, southeastern Brazil.

Décor is relatively unimportant and maintenance simple provided sufficient space is available.

A natural-style arr…

Type locality is ‘Tukeit, Guyana’, and this species is known from various river drainages of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana including the Orinoco, Essequibo, and upper Courantyne (aka Corantijn) basins.

Additional records exist from the upper Amazon basin in Guyana, these presumably corresponding to the Takutu river basin, itself part of the upper rio Branco.

Type locality is given simply as ‘Amazon River, Brazil’ and according to current thinking this species has a huge natural range encompassing the Amazon River system in Brazil and Peru plus the Paraná-Paraguay drainage in southern Brazil and Paraguay and rio São Francisco basin in southern Brazil.

Specimens in our images were collected fro…

L. taeniata is the largest-growing and second most widely-distributed member of the genus although it’s a rarely-seen in the aquarium trade.

It can be distinguished from all congeners since it uniquely possesses 5 lateral scale rows between the lateral line and dorsal-fin origin (vs. 4 or 6–8 in the remaining species).

This species is also referred to as ‘black-anded leporinus’, ‘striped leporinus’ and ‘eight-banded leporinus’.

Young specimens are often traded for aquaria without warning as to their potential size and requirements, and as a result it’s fairly ubiquitous in public aquarium displays.

Abramites spp. are separated from other anostomids primarily on the basis of their relatively deeper bodies and presence of a prominent, post-pelvic median keel, a feature unique to the genus.

At time of writing A. eques is the only other species recognised and is native to the Río Magdalena drainage in western Colombia.

It can be distinguished by possession of 13-14 bra…

A biotope-style set-up could consist of a sandy substrate, piles of smooth rocks and driftwood roots and branches, some of which should penetrate the water surface.

Aquatic vegetation can be included if you wish but is likely to be eaten.