Occurs naturally in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina with feral populations in Australia, New Zealand, Ethiopia and Malawi which were purportedly introduced for purposes of mosquito control but are now considered invasive.

Following Lucinda (2008) its natural range comprises the Lagoa dos Patos system, lower rio Uruguai, rio Tramandaí, and rio Mampituba in Rio Grande do Sul st…

Generally peaceful making it an ideal resident of the well-researched community aquarium.

It is perhaps best-maintained alongside similarly-sized characids, gasteropelecids, lebiasinids, smaller callichthyid or loricariid catfishes and non-predatory, medium-sized cichlids.

Try to buy a mixed-sex group of at least 8-10 specimens, incl…