Edit Copella arnoldi

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Name

Scientific name

Copella arnoldi

Described by

Authority Regan, Year 1912

Family

Lebiasinidae

Summary

The splash tetra, Copella arnoldi, is a lebiasinid from the lower Amazon basin in Brazil and coastal drainages of Guyana, Suriname and Fren…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

55mm, standard length

Tank size

Minimum length 90 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm

Water

Temperature and pH

Temperature 20–28°C, pH 4–7.5

Hardness

1–8dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Peaceful

Community suitability

Community-safe

Where it lives

Countries

Brazil

Supporting text

Etymology

Copella: a diminutive of the generic name Copeina which was named for naturalist Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897). arnoldi: named for J. Paul Arnold, who collec…

Distribution

Type locality is given simply as 'Amazon' by Regan and most modern reports state that this species is widely-distributed in the lower Amazon basin in Brazil pl…

Habitat

Mostly inhabits streams and minor tributaries and occurs in flooded forests during periods of high water. Its most-favoured habitats are characterised by large…

Aquarium size

Surface dimensions of 90 ∗ 30 cm36 ∗ 12 in or equivalent should be the minimum considered for long-term care although smaller aquaria can be used for breeding.

Maintenance

Best kept in a densely-planted aquarium or paludarium with some overhanging vegetation, roots or branches important if you wish to raise fry alongside the adul…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

A micropredator feeding on tiny invertebrates and other zooplankton in nature, especially at the water surface. In the aquarium it will accept dried foods of a…

Behaviour and compatibility

Peaceful but somewhat unsuitable for the general community aquarium. It’s perhaps best-maintained alongside similarly-sized characids, gasteropelecids, lebiasi…

Sexual dimorphism

Males grows significantly larger, develop more-extended fins and are more colourful than females. In nuptial males a broad dark band may extend posteriorly alo…

Reproduction

Displays an interesting reproductive strategy in which spawning and egg deposition occurs on overhanging vegetation above the water surface. In a mature set-up…

Notes

This species is also known as the 'spraying', 'splashing' or 'jumping' tetra and these names are sometimes applied to its congeners although none of them exhib…

This species is also known as the 'spraying', 'splashing' or 'jumping' tetra and these names are sometimes applied to its congeners although none of them exhibit a comparable spawning strategy, rather depositing their eggs among vegetation at or around the water surface.

It can be told apart from other Copella spp. by the following characters: 23-24 scales in the lateral row; presence of a dark stripe running from the tip of the snout to the eye; dorsal-fin insertion located closer to the caudal-fin base than the posterior edge of the opercle; no black triangular marking in the ventral rays of the lower caudal-fin lobe.

Some forms have more brightly-coloured fins while at least one displays a broad midlateral stripe when preserved, and those from Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are considered to represent C. carsevennensis (Regan 1912) by Zarske (2011).

Following the latter author C. arnoldi is told apart from C. carsevennensis by: presence (vs. absence) of a silvery-white to white patch in the centre of some of the flank scales in males, particularly in the lower half of the body; presence (vs. absence) of a horizontal dark body bar in nuptial males; presence (vs. absence) of thin black margins in the dorsal, ventral and anal fins; eggs deposited outside of the water (vs. eggs deposited among submerged vegetation.

Mol (2012) considers the two species synonymous based on a personal communication although no detailed explanation is given so we continue to list them separately for the time being.

The genus Copella can be told apart from the closely-related Pyrrhulina by aspects of head morphology plus possession of only one (vs. two) row of conical teeth in the premaxillary.

The family Lebiasinidae is included in the order Characiformes and sometimes split into the nominal subfamilies Lebiasininae and Pyrrhulininae, though there has not been a major review of the grouping in recent times.

All lebiasinid genera possess a relatively long, elongate body shape with 17-33 scales in the lateral series and laterosensory canal system absent or reduced to 7 scales or less.

Some species have an adipose fin while others do not, and the anal-fin has a relatively short base of 13 scales or less.

In the majority of members males have an enlarged or otherwise well-developed anal-fin used in courtship and spawning.

The frontal/parietal fontanelle is always absent, the cheek well-covered by the orbital and opercular bones, the supraoccipital crest is absent, and the scales of the dorsal body begin over the parietal bones.

Characiformes is among the most diverse orders of freshwater fishes currently including close to 2000 valid species distributed among 19 families.

This tremendous taxonomical and morphological diversity has historically impaired the ability of researchers to resolve their genetic relationships with many genera remaining incertae sedis.

A further limiting factor has been that in many cases exhaustive study of these on an individual basis is the only way to resolve such problems.

Modern molecular phylogenetic techniques have allowed some headway, though, and a research paper by Calcagnotto et al. published in 2005 revealed some interesting hypotheses.

Their results suggest that Lebiasinidae forms a trans-atlantic, monophyletic clade alongside the families Ctenoluciidae and Hepsetidae, this clade further forming a sister group to Alestidae.

Others such as Oliveira et al. (2011) have concluded that the family Erythrinidae is also closely-related to this grouping with Hepsetidae and Alestidae more distant.

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My own experienceFor example, I've kept twelve in a planted 60 cm tank since March 2024.A website I sawFor example, an IUCN Red List assessment, a museum catalogue or a FishBase page.A paperFor example, Marshall et al. (2011), Water temperature differences in interfluvial palm swamp habitats of Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans.A book, or something not onlineFor example, Tappin (2010), Rainbowfishes: their care and keeping in captivity.Something already on the profileFor example, the Behaviour and compatibility section already says this.

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References

7 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Tank size

Water

Temperature and pH

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries

Supporting text

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References