Barbus

'B.' candens is not really suitable for most community aquaria as it has something of a shy, retiring nature and may be intimidated or outcompeted for food by larger/more boisterous tankmates. Choose similarly-sized, peaceful African species such as 'B.' jae, Aplocheilichthys spp., Ladigesia roloffi or Lepidarchus adonis. We suspect it will also do ok with many small South American characins, Otocinclus or smaller Corydoras catfish and other cyprinids like Trigonostigma or Boraras species.

For many years this species was imported and sold as Barbus/Barbodes barilioides, now recognised as a junior synonym of 'B.' fasciolatus, and is sometimes called the Blue Banded or Angola Barb. It's an exceptionally attractive little fish when in good condition but like all African barbs is quite rare in the hobby due to sporadic exports from the countries in which it is found. Distinguishing features include 25-30 late...

A stylish-looking but rare barb in the hobby and unfortunately little information is available regarding its captive care. Forum member Andy Rushworth has kept a lone individal and told us it was a perfect aquarium inhabitant in terms of behaviour and maintenance. He also mentioned that the fish he had looked exactly like the specimen in our images but that he has seen at least one batch of what appeared to be a different species imported under the same na...

This species is native to Central West Africa where it is principally found in the great Ogooué and Congo River systems. It therefore has an extensive range and has been recorded at numerous localities right across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from the Ituri River in the far east of the country to the Luki River basin in the extreme west. The Congo River appears to represent the southernmost limit of its range as a...

Two closely-related species are also found in the Congo basin and infrequently seen in the trade. 'B.' candens has been collected northeast of the range of 'B.' hulstaerti around the city of Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville) and nearby town of Yangambi. It can be distinguished from 'B.' hulstaerti by its paler body colouration, smaller dark markings on the body and red ventral and anal fins in males. 'B.' papillo is known only from its type locality close to the eastern town of Kindu between the Lualaba and Lomami rivers. It has an elongated central body marking and males possess black dorsal, ventral and anal fins.

Although gregarious by nature it is a shoaling rather than schooling species which develops a distinct pecking order between males. It should ideally be maintained in a group of 8 or more but the tank must be of a sufficient size which will allow weaker individuals some respite from dominant conspecifics and decorated in such a way that many broken lines of sight are provided. Conversely if kept singly, in a very small group or in cramped conditions it can become withdrawn and subdominant fish may be bullied incessantly.

The genus Barbus is in something of a confused state classification-wise. While there exist almost 340 putative species the vast majority of them do not appear to be closely-related to the genus Barbus sensu stricto. Berrebi et al. (1996) proposed that only the European, Southwest Asian and North African representatives should be included in Barbus (around 20 species) and that 'all species of Barbus sen...