Edit Copella nattereri

You can suggest changes to this profile. A moderator will review each change.

Name

Scientific name

Copella nattereri

Described by

Authority Steindachner, Year 1876, Bracketed

Family

Lebiasinidae

Common names

Not recorded

Photograph credits

All 9 credited

Summary

Copella nattereri is a small lebiasinid widespread in the middle and upper Amazon drainage in Peru and Brazil. It is sometimes traded as C.…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

45mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 60 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 20–28°C, pH 4–7

Hardness

1–5dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Peaceful

Community suitability

Community-safe

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Brazil, Peru, Amazon, Corrientes, Curuá, Curucamba, Curupira, Marañón, Nanay, Negro, Purus, Solimões, Trombetas, Ucayali

Writing

Etymology

Copella: a diminutive of the generic name Copeina which was named for naturalist Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897). nattereri: named for Austrian naturalist Joha…

Distribution

This species is widespread in the middle and upper Amazon river drainage, including its major tributaries, in Peru and Brazil. The type series was collected fr…

Habitat

Mostly inhabits forest streams and minor tributaries, and often occurs in flooded forests during periods of high water. Its most-favoured habitats are characte…

Aquarium size

Surface dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm 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

Probably a micropredator feeding on tiny invertebrates and other zooplankton in nature. In the aquarium it will accept dried foods of a suitable size but shoul…

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 intensely-coloured than females, while the latter are noticeably rounder-bodied, espe…

Reproduction

This species deposits its eggs among vegetation, these being guarded by the male during incubation. In a mature set-up it's possible that small numbers of fry …

Notes

This species is sometimes traded as C. sp. 'red line', 'spotted tetra' or as its congener C. nigrofasciata. It looks very similar to C. nigrofasciata but can b…

This species is sometimes traded as C. sp. 'red line', 'spotted tetra' or as its congener C. nigrofasciata.

It looks very similar to C. nigrofasciata but can be told apart by the fact it possesses a maximum of three laterally-orientated rows of red spots on the flanks (vs. five or six rows in C. nigrofasciata).

In the past it's name was also widely applied to the fish now identified as C. callolepis and C. meinkeni, and this misidentification continues to an extent although the two are easily-distinguished by the fact that C. nattereri is the only one of the three possessing a dark lateral stripe on each side of the body.

The combination of characters diagnosing it from all congeners is as follows: 23-24 scales in the lateral row; presence of a broad, dark lateral stripe extending from the tip of the snout to caudal-fin base with a paler stripe above; a black triangular marking in the ventral rays of the lower caudal-fin lobe; 1-3 laterally-orientated rows of red spots on the body.

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.

Editing needs JavaScript. This is the text as it was last saved.

Where does this come from?

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 pageFor example, the Behaviour and compatibility section already says this.

Web address

Paste the address of the page that says this. What counts as a source

DOI

Paste a DOI and we will look up the rest of the reference. A DOI looks like 10.11646/zootaxa.4694.4.1, and most papers print it on the first page.

Title

Enter the title of the paper, book or page. If you leave it empty, we will use the website's address.

Authors

Separate authors with semicolons, e.g. Tan, H.H.; Ng, P.K.L.

Year

Journal or publisher

Pages

Enter the page that says this, e.g. 218 or 218–221.

Anything worth adding

Describe what you saw, or which part of the source says this.

References

5 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References