Edit Holopristis ocellifera

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

Name

Scientific name

Holopristis ocellifera

Described by

Bracketed

Family

Characidae

Common names

Head-and-tail light Tetra

Photograph credits

All 2 credited

Summary

The head-and-tail light tetra, Holopristis ocellifera, is a small characin from Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Peru and Brazil. Also know…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

45mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 60 cm, Minimum depth 38 cm, Minimum height 30 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 24–28°C, pH 5.5–7.5

Hardness

5–20dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Not recorded

Community suitability

Community-safe

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname

Writing

Etymology

Not written yet

Distribution

Fairly widespread in nature. Populations are known from parts of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Peru and Brazil. You're unlikely to see any wild fish for sal…

Habitat

Slow moving rivers, tributaries and floodplain lakes.

Aquarium size

A 60 ∗ 38 ∗ 30 cm - ~68 litres tank could house a small group of these comfortably.

Maintenance

As it is captive bred, it's adaptable and will do well in most tanks. It does look particularly effective in a heavily-planted arrangement, though, and can app…

As it is captive bred, it's adaptable and will do well in most tanks. It does look particularly effective in a heavily-planted arrangement, though, and can appear a little washed out in very spartan setups.

If you really want to see it at its best, you could set up a biotope tank. Use a substrate of river sand and add a few driftwood branches (if you can't find driftwood of the desired shape, common beech is safe to use if thoroughly dried and stripped of bark) and twisted roots. A few handfuls of dried leaves (again beech can be used, or oak leaves are also suitable) would complete the natural feel. Allow the wood and leaves to stain the water the colour of weak tea, removing old leaves and replacing them every few weeks so they don't rot and foul the water. A small net bag filled with aquarium-safe peat can be added to the filter to aid in the simulation of black water conditions. Use fairly dim lighting. Under these conditions the true beauty of the fish will be revealed.

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.

Water conditions

Temperature: 24 – 28 °C pH: 5.5-7.5. Preferably below neutral. Hardness: 5-20°H. It will show its best colours towards the lower end of this range.

Diet

Easy to feed. It will readily accept just about anything offered. For the best condition and colours offer regular meals of small live and frozen foods such as…

Behaviour and compatibility

One of the best tetras for the 'general' community setup. It is lively, quite colourful and peaceful. It's a good tankmate for most livebearers, danios, rasbor…

Sexual dimorphism

Apparently, it can be sexed by examining the swim bladder, which is fairly visible through the translucent skin of the fish. This tapers to a point in males, b…

Reproduction

Quite easily accomplished. You'll need to set up a separate tank if you want to raise decent numbers of fry. Something around 18" x 10" x 10" in size is fine. …

Notes

Also known as the beacon tetra, this species is ubiquitous in most dealers' tanks and is one of the best choices for the newcomer to fishkeeping. It's both har…

References

No references

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