This species is widely-distributed in the Mekong river system in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, Salween and Ayeyarwaddy rivers in southern China, Myanmar, and Thailand, plus various smaller basins in Vietnam and China. It has also been recorded from the islands of Hainan and Hong Kong.

Type locality is given as ‘China: sent from Hong Kong’.

A. macropterus appears in the ornamental trade on an irregular basis and should only be considered by more experienced aquarists with sufficiently large facilities.

Given its wide geographical distribution there is a possibility that it represents a group of closely-related species, with genetic studies indicating the existence of several distinct clades.

No bubble nest is built and several thousand eggs simply float at the surface with both male and female remaining to defend the eggs and fry.

The eggs hatch after 24-36 hours depending on temperature and the fry are free swimming in a further 24 hours. At this point they resemble 6-7 mm long black tadpoles.

It is important to constantly feed…