Casanare

The salt and pepper cory, Hoplisoma habrosum, long known as Corydoras habrosus, is a tiny armoured catfish from left bank tributaries of the upper Orinoco in Colombia and Venezuela. Most records come from the Río Apure watershed in the Llanos, where it apparently favours lagoons, streams, inundated forest and grassland with little flow. Also called 'dainty cory' and 'Venezuelan pygmy cory', it has 2-3 dark markings along the side of the body, against 4-5 in the similar H. cochui.

The purple tetra, Hyphessobrycon metae, is a characid endemic to the middle Río Orinoco watershed in Colombia and Venezuela. Also known as 'Río Meta tetra', it is often misidentified, and H. peruvianus has repeatedly appeared under its name. The dark band on the caudal peduncle, without a broad dark band along the lower body, separates it from H. peruvianus and H. loretoensis.

Leporellus vittatus is an anostomid with a huge natural range across the Amazon, Paraná-Paraguay, São Francisco and Orinoco river systems. Unlike most anostomids it is adapted to a benthic existence in flowing water and spends most of its time on or around the substrate. Occasionally exported, it requires quite specialised conditions, an aquarium of at least 210 by 60 cm and ideally a group of six or more.

The black spot piranha, Pygocentrus cariba, is restricted to the Río Orinoco basin in Colombia and Venezuela. Many of its habitats lie within the llanos, and it has been recorded from river channels, tributaries and floodplain lakes, many of them acidic blackwater environments. Specimens over 100 mm SL have a large humeral spot and few spots on the body, which separates it from P. nattereri. It is best maintained alone.