Seriously Fish
AdminAccount
AdminAccount

Genus

Copella

Species
6
Photographed
6 of 6
Difficulty rated
6 of 6
Wild-collected adult male; locality unconfirmed.

Copella arnoldiSplash Tetra

Regan, 1912

Max length
55mm SL2.2in SL
Tank
90 × 30cm36 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.5

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

Easy
Adult male individual. Note the dark marking at the base of the ventral caudal-fin rays; a diagnostic character for this species following Zarske (2011).

Copella callolepis

Regan, 1912

Max length
42mm SL1.7in SL
Tank
60 × 30cm24 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.0

This species is quite common in the aquarium trade although normally misidentified as the congeners C. nattereri or the very similar C. meinkeni. It was considered synonymous with C. nattereri for a number of years and was also referred to as C. cf. meinkeni by Zarske and Géry (2006) befo...

Easy
Adult male individual.

Copella carsevennensis

Regan, 1912

Max length
40mm SL1.6in SL
Tank
75 × 30cm30 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.0

C. carsevennensis has formerly been synonymised with C. arnoldi but was considered separate by Zarske (2011) using the following combination characters: absence (vs. presence) 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; absence (vs. presence) of a horizontal dark body bar in nuptial males; absence (vs. presence) of thin black margins in the dorsal, ventral and anal fins; eggs deposited among submerged vegetation (vs. eg...

Easy
Adult male individual.

Copella eigenmanni

Regan, 1912

Max length
45mm SL1.8in SL
Tank
80 × 30cm31 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.0

This species does appear in the aquarium trade from time-to-time, often among shipments of other wild-caught fishes from the Orinoco basin. Populations from Colombia were formerly referred to as C. metae until Zarske (2011) synonymised the two when designating a lectoty...

Easy
Newly-imported adult male with some fin damage evident.

Copella meinkeniSpotted Splashing Tetra

Zarske & Géry, 2006

Max length
45mm SL1.8in SL
Tank
60 × 30cm24 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.0

This species has been widely referred to as the congener C. nattereri in aquarium literature both prior to and post-publication of its official description in 2006. The two can be told apart quite easily by the fact that C. nattereri possesses a dark lateral stripe while C. meinkeni does not. C. meinkeni can be distinguished from all congeners by the followi...

Easy
Young adult male.

Copella nattereri

Steindachner, 1876

Max length
45mm SL1.8in SL
Tank
60 × 30cm24 × 12in
Temp
20–28°C68–82°F
pH
4.0–7.0

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

Easy