Hyphessobrycon auca
Last revised 2026Edit this page
On this page6 sections
Quick factsEdit
Difficulty3 of 8 measures
- Space
- small tank
- Water
- unknown
- Temp
- unknown
- Diet
- unknown
- Temperament
- unknown
- Social
- needs to be in a group
- Compatibility
- fine with others
Other demands
Each of these can raise the rating on its own, whatever the measures above say.
- Hardiness
- unknown
Hyphessobrycon auca is a small characid known only from two ponds in the Esteros del Iberá wetlands of Corrientes province, northern Argentina. The ponds lie on a sand bar deposited by the Paraná during the Pleistocene and hold soft, mildly acidic, rain-fed water. It looks very similar to Psalidodon anisitsi and is told apart by its dentition and by the small hooks on the fins of males.
Etymology
EditHyphessobrycon: from the Ancient Greek υπελάσσων (hyphesson), meaning 'of lesser stature', and used as a prefix in this case, plus the generic name Brycon.
auca: a Mapuche (indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina) meaning 'rebel'.
Distribution
EditKnown only from two ponds within the Esteros del Iberá wetlands in Corrientes province, northern Argentina.
Type locality is 'pond in San Juán Poriahú farm (27°41'53" S-57°12'17" W').'
Habitat
Write a noteEditThe Esteros del Iberá form the second largest wetlands in the world after the Pantanal in Brazil and are home to an enormous number of plant and animal species.
The two ponds where H. auca was collected were located on a sand bar deposited by the nearby Paraná river during the Pleistocene.
At time of collection the substrates were composed of sand with submerged vegetation dominated by Egeria najas plus floating Eichhornia in marginal areas.
The pools were rain-fed and contained mildly acidic (pH 5.6-6.8), soft (hardness 2-5 mg CaCo3 l-1) and transparent water with low conductivity (11.6-20.8 µS cm-1).
Sympatric fish species included Acestrorhynchus pantaneiro, Aphyocharax rathbuni, Characidium spp., Hyphessobrycon eques, Serrapinnus kriegi, Apistogramma borelli, A. commbrae, Gymnogeophagus balzanii, Laetacara dorsigera and Phalloceros caudimaculatus.
Notes
EditH. auca appears very similar to Psalidodon anisitsi but can be told apart by possessing a single maxillary tooth always with 5 cusps (vs. 3-5 cusps in P. anisitsi), dentary depth 40.7-47.6 % of dentary length (vs. 50.0-53.3 %), and possessing small hooks on the dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins in males (vs. lacking hooks on these fins in males).
References
- Almirón, A. E., J. R. Casciotta, J. A. Bechara and F. J. Ruíz Díaz (2004). A new species of Hyphessobrycon (Characiformes, Characidae) from the Esteros del Iberá wetlands, Argentina. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 111(3), 673-682
Species images · 3
These photographs are used with each photographer's permission.
Send a photograph