Edit Hyphessobrycon stegemanni

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Name

Scientific name

Hyphessobrycon stegemanni

Described by

Authority Géry, Year 1961

Family

Characidae

Common names

Savanna Tetra

Photograph credits

All 2 credited

Summary

The savanna tetra, Hyphessobrycon stegemanni, is a characid from the middle rio Tocantins and rio Araguaia basins in central Brazil. In the…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

35mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 60 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 20–25°C, pH 5.5–7.5

Hardness

2–12dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Peaceful

Community suitability

Community-safe

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Brazil, Araguaia, Das Mortes, Javaés, Manso, Manuel Alves Pequeno, Pedra Furada, Tocantins

Writing

Etymology

Hyphessobrycon: from the Ancient Greek υπελάσσων (hyphesson), meaning 'of lesser stature', used as a prefix in this case, plus the generic name Brycon. stegema…

Distribution

Native to the middle rio Tocantins basin in the states of Maranhão and Tocantins, central Brazil, plus its principal affluent the rio Araguaia in Pará, Tocanti…

Habitat

This species' known range is located almost entirely in the cerrado ecoregion of Brazil, a vast area of tropical wooded grassland which is considered the most …

Aquarium size

An aquarium with base dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent should be the smallest considered.

Maintenance

Perhaps looks best in an arrangement comprising a sandy substrate plus some driftwood roots and branches, or a heavily-planted planted set-up. The addition of …

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Likely to be omnivorous feeding on small invertebrates, crustacea, filamentous algae, fallen fruit and suchlike in nature. In aquaria it may survive on a diet …

Behaviour and compatibility

Very peaceful making it an ideal resident of the well-researched community aquarium. It is best-maintained alongside similarly-sized characids, gasteropelecids…

Sexual dimorphism

Sexually mature females are noticeably deeper-bodied and a little larger than males.

Reproduction

Unreported.

Notes

In the aquarium hobby the name Hyphessobrycon stegemanni has frequently been misapplied to a species that has been described as Hemigrammus ataktos Marinho, Da…

In the aquarium hobby the name Hyphessobrycon stegemanni has frequently been misapplied to a species that has been described as Hemigrammus ataktos Marinho, Dagosta, & Birindelli 2014. The reasons for this confusion are presumably that the two occur sympatrically in the rio Tocantins system and both possess a dark lateral stripe on the body.

H. stegemanni is distinguished from Hemigrammus ataktos by the following combination of characters: dorsal and anal fins not elongate in adult males (vs. elongate in Hemigrammus ataktos); inner premaxillary teeth with 7-9 cusps (vs. 3-5); dentary teeth smaller with 7-9 cusps (vs. larger with 3-5 cusps); scales on caudal-fin restricted to base (vs. caudal-fin lobes mostly scaled); 16-18 branched anal-fin rays (vs. 16-18).

It is a member of the putative ‘H. heterorhabdus-group’ of closely-related species within the genus as proposed by Géry (1977). This originally comprised around 15 members characterised by a 'longitudinal pattern' consisting of a thin, usually dark, lateral body stripe, but has since been modified on a number of occasions.

Most recently, Lima et al. (2014) proposed a putatively monophyletic H. heterorhabdus-group containing only three species; Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus, H. amapaensis, and H. eschwartzae. These all possess: a well-defined, elongate humeral blotch which is continuous with a dark, well-defined midlateral stripe that becomes blurred towards the caudal peduncle; a longitudinal red stripe extending along the body above the midlateral line; upper half of the eye red.

This pattern is different to that presented by several members of Géry's H. heterorhabdus group, such as H. vilmae, H. cachimbensis, and H. stegemanni, which possess a continuous, solid dark lateral stripe on the body and no obvious humeral blotch, but is similar to that of Géry's H. agulha group. The latter contained species with a colour pattern comprising "lower half of the body dark, especially above anal fin; usually a horizontally elongate humeral spot, more or less united with the assymetrical, broad band", and included H. agulha, H. loretoensis, H. peruvianus, H. metae, and H. herbertaxelrodi.

Hyphessobrycon was raised by Durbin in Eigenmann (1908) as a subgenus of Hemigrammus, differing from the latter by the absence of scales on the caudal-fin.

The grouping was revised by Eigenmann (1918, 1921) while Géry (1977) created artificial groups of species based on colour pattern, and these definitions are still widely used today, e.g., the H. agulha group, the H. heterorhabdus group, etc. These cannot be considered to represent monophyletic assemblages, however, and their concepts continue to be redefined.

Weitzman & Palmer (1997) hypothesised the existence of a monophyletic assemblage within the genus based on colour pattern and male fin morphology that they termed the ‘rosy tetra clade’, with one of the characters supporting its monophyly being presence of a prominent dark marking on the dorsal-fin. This assemblage, plus other morphologically similar species, is considered to represent Hyphessobrycon sensu stricto by some authors, with the remaining species included in a much-expanded H. heterorhabdus group.

Others have proposed conflicting, typically more restricted, views of both the genus and/or its constituent species groups, and significant confusion remains. What is clear is that, as currently recognised, Hyphessobrycon is a polyphyletic lineage containing several genera.

The process of splitting it up has already started, and Malabarba et al. (2012) revalidated the genus Ectrepopterus Fowler, previously considered a synonym of Hyphessobrycon. They also analysed its relationships within the Characidae in the context of Mirande's (2010) previous work, but included the type species, H. compressus, for the first time in such a study. The results demonstrated that H. compressus is more closely-related to 'rosy tetra' representatives such as H. eques, H. pulchripinnis, and H. socolofi than other members of the genus including H. anisitsi, H. bifasciatus, H. elachys, H. herbertaxelrodi, and H. luetkeni.

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References

11 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