Pastaza

Numerous ornamental forms of this species have been selectively line-bred for the aquarium trade, vernacular names for which include "sunset", "sunburst", "double red", "triple red", "gold", "white gold", "orange flash" and "albino". It has also been assigned the 'A' number A200 under the DATZ system with possibly conspecific, related forms similarly numbered A201, A202 and A203 depending on locality. Th...

A. bimaculatus is not a popular aquarium fish but is available on occasion exception, most often as a contaminant among shipments of other species. It's identity is also in question to an extent with the name currently applied to what is considered to represent a species complex comprising at least four taxa.

C. strigata is an enduringly popular species in the aquarium hobby but is not bred on a commercial basis with all fish offered for sale collected in the wild. It can be told apart from other members of the genus by its larger adult size and dark, marbled colour pattern appearing as a series of dark and light stripes running diagonally across the body below the lateral line. This colour pattern is variable and popul...

This species is also referred to as 'South American puffer', 'SAP', 'Amazonian puffer', 'Peruvian puffer', or 'Brazilian puffer' in the ornamental trade. Within the genus Colomesus, C. asellus can be immediately identified by possessing a unique transverse row of dermal flaps across the chin which is absent in its congeners C. psittacus and C. tocantinensis.

This species is not well known and rarely traded for the aquarium hobby. Unfortunately diagnostic characters cannot be provided since we’ve been unable to obtain the type description, and little has been written about this species since it was published. It looks very similar to several congeners, particularly C. acrensis and C. cruziensis.

Unfortunately diagnostic characters cannot be provided since we have been unable to obtain the type description to date, and little else has been written about this species. There is also confusion regarding whether C. lamberti, the unidentified 'C009', and similar-looking fish collected close to Iquitos are conspecific or not. We include all together here until these issues are resolved.

The form from the Río Tigre, previously referred to as the subspecies C. p. orcesi (Weitzman & Nijssen, 1970) was raised to full species status as C. orcesi by Isbrücker (2001), but this decision does not appear to have been followed by all authorities some of which consider C. p. orcesi a synonym of C. pastazensis. The two species are relatively easy to tell apart by colour pattern; in C. pastazensis the dark vertical...

Known from the Ucayali (río Samiria), Huallaga, Santiago, and Pastaza (ríos Bobonaza and Pindo) river systems in eastern Ecuador and northern Peru. These are all tributary drainages within the middle Río Marañón watershed, a major affluent of the upper Amazon river basin. Type locality is 'Río Hallagua system, Yurimaguas...

This species is currently the only described member of its genus although colour pattern and morphology vary considerably across its range. You may see reference to this species being the only fish species to possess infra-red vision, but other species also possess this ability and we suspect that infra-red plays an important role in the reproductive cycle of many fishes.

This species may be referred to using a variety of names including 'scomb', 'sabre tooth tetra', 'sabre tusk barracuda', 'dog tooth characin, 'vampire fish', 'Cachorra' or Pirandirá (the latter two names being used in Brazil where they're also applied to congeners). It's regularly confused with the payara, H. armatus, though that species grows considerably larger, is pop...

Widely-distributed throughout the Amazon, Orinoco, Essequibo, and Tocantins river systems in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guyana. Type locality is 'Rio Cupai [= Rio Cupari], Rio Tapajós basin, Amazon River drainage, Pará State, Brazil'.

This species is relatively common in the aquarium hobby but is not easy to maintain and recommended only for experienced aquarists. It can be told apart from all congeners by specimens larger than 60 mm SL possessing an extended pectoral-fin spine forming an extremely long filament that may be more than four times the length of the first branched pectoral-fin ray (vs. not possessing such a filament in other species of Lamontichthys).

Famed as a rapacious predator capable of rapidly stripping flesh from bone and a danger to any animal entering its native waters, P. nattereri is among the most notorious freshwater fishes in the world. As a result, displays featuring this “bloodthirsty” creature are found in most public aquaria, grisly Hollywood movies have been released, and the species has become popular in the aquarium trade. Little of this infamy is based on factual evidence, however.

T. stellatus is superficially similar to its only congener T. securis, but can immediately be identified by the presence (vs. absence) of a prominent dark spot in the dorsal-fin. It is sometimes traded as 'platinum hatchetfish'. The genus Thoracocharax was originally erected by Fowler in 1906 as a subgenus of Gasteropelecus, but was elevated to generic status by Weitzman (1960).

This is the type species of the genus Aequidens and has the widest distribution of any member species. It exists in various colour forms depending on locality with variants from Ecuador and Peru being particularly sought after since they develop striking red (Ecuador) or orange (Peru) colouration on the lower part of the jaw, head and anterior portion of the belly whereas those from Brazil tend to have an overall grey/blue/green colouration, for example. Despite its type status it's long...

Given its eventual size and natural behaviour this species is largely unsuitable for the home aquarium, and we know of only a handful of private aquarists with the facilities required to house it long-term. Unfortunately juveniles are readily available in the trade, although the scarcity of privately-maintained adults would suggest that most fail to reach their potential.