Its name appears to have been misapplied to similar-looking fishes occurring throughout much of the middle and lower Amazon in Brazil and Colombia, plus the rio Orinoco drainage in Colombia and Venezuela, and coastal systems of the Guianas. Some of these have been described as distinct species (e.g. Hyphessobrycon amapaensis Zarske & Géry 1998; H. eschwartzae García-Alzate, Román-Valencia & Ortega 2013; H. montagi Lima, Couthino & Woziacki 2014), whereas the identity of others remains un…

This species has been a ubiquitous aquarium fish since its discovery, and is produced on a commercial basis in several countries, therefore wild fish are no longer collected. An ornamental albino form is sometimes available.

Apart from its distinctive colour pattern, it can be identified from related species via the following combination of charac…

This species is an opportunistic omnivore by nature.

The stomach contents of wild specimens from the rio Padauari were composed of fruit remains and aquatic insects with the former constituting 99% and latter 1% of all items consumed.

Stomachs of individuals from igarapé Água Boa cont…

Its native rivers flow through one of the most densely-populated and industrialised parts of Brazil, and have suffered greatly from dam construction, water abstraction, pollution, introduced species (including over 40 exotic freshwater fishes in the rio Paraíba do Sul alone), and other forms of anthropogenic degradation. H. flammeus is now uncommon or even extinct across much of its putative natural range, and in Rio de Janeiro state only a handful of highly-fragmented populations remain at best, with the mo…

In the igarapés Baré and Ubim, western Brazil H. erythrostigma was collected from stretches measuring 5-7 metres in width with thick riparian and overhanging vegetation.

The substrate was mostly composed of sand and the fish displayed a preference for boundary zones between shallow and deeper water. Conductivity was measured at 14.2-62.1 mS/cm³, dissolved oxy…

A beautiful species that is very similar to a host of others in the genus, some of which are undescribed. The most frequently encountered of these in the trade is the rosy tetra, H. rosaceus. H. bentosi may also be seen for sale as 'Bentos' tetra' or 'White-tipped tetra'.

As with the closely related Hemigrammus, the taxonomic status of all species in the genus Hyphessobrycon is currently Incertae Sedis, meaning uncertain. The genus is currently used as something of a …

A beautiful species that is very similar to a host of others in the genus, some of which are undescribed. The most common of these in the hobby is H. bentosi. The two are so similar in appearance that H. rosaceus was once considered to be a subspecies of H. bentosi. The easiest way to distinguish them is by the presence of a dark marking just behind the operculum in H. bentosi, which is lacking in H. rosaceus.

As with the closely related Hemigrammus, the taxonomic status of all species in the…

This species is very common in the aquarium trade and is also referred to as ‘jewel’, ‘red minor’, ‘blood’, or ‘callistus’ tetra.

A number of selectively-bred ornamental strains have been developed, including ‘metallic’, ‘long-finned’, ‘balloon’ and ‘fairy-fin’.

Characiformes is among the most diverse orders of freshwa…

Type locality is ‘Rio das Mortes, some 100 km before its confluence with the Braço Maior of the Rio Araguaia (the western border of the Isla do Bananal). State of Mato Grosso.’

The das Mortes is a principal tributary of the Araguaia, itself the major affluent of the rio Tocantins within the lower Amazon basin in central and western Brazil, although the full range of H. amandae within the Araguaia system is unclear.

This species is also traded as ‘blue flame’, ‘blue-red’, and ‘Colombian red fin’ tetra, and was misidentified as H. ecuadorensis for several years prior to its description.

Within the genus it appears to be most closely related to the Costa Rica endemic H. savagei Bussing, 1967 but differs in a number of characters as fol…