H. armatus should probably not be considered a home aquarium subject at all given its eventual size and migratory natural behaviour.

Unfortunately, juveniles are seen for sale quite regularly, most often without adequate information regarding their long-term care, and it’s common to see them being maintained in medium-sized aquaria with no possibility of achieving their potential.

It’s most similar to A. riesei but can be told apart by its more-elongate body (depth 4-5 times, vs. 3.1-3.5 times, in SL), live body colour (silvery yellow, vs. red) and suborbital bone structure (almost complete, vs. reduced).

The third species, A. lindeae, is quite different posses…

This species is not often available and is much sought after in the aquarium hobby where it’s been traded as ‘crystal rainbow tetra’ and ‘orange-tailed glass tetra’.

It’s also been referred to as a Heterocharax or Tyttocharax species in the past.

It’s currently the only member of its genus which is separated fr…

This species is quite common in the aquarium trade although normally misidentified as the congeners C. nattereri or the very similar C. meinkeni.

It was considered synonymous with C. nattereri for a number of years and was also referred to as C. cf. meinkeni by Zarske and Géry (2006) befo…

This species has been widely referred to as the congener C. nattereri in aquarium literature both prior to and post-publication of its official description in 2006.

The two can be told apart quite easily by the fact that C. nattereri possesses a dark lateral stripe while C. meinkeni does not.

C. meinkeni can be distinguished from all congeners by the followi…

This species is sometimes traded as C. sp. ‘red line’, ‘spotted tetra’ or as its congener C. nigrofasciata.

In the past it’s name was also widely applied to the fish now identified as C. callolepis and C. meinkeni, and this misidentification continues to an extent although the two are easily-distinguished by the fact that C. nattereri is the only one of the three possessing a dark lateral stripe on each side of the body.

This species was described from a single specimen and included in the genus Leporinus until 2011 at which point the holotype was examined and recognised as corresponding to the fish described as Synaptolaemus cingulatus (Myers & Fernández-Yépez, 1950).

Known from the middle and upper Amazon river basins in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Type locality is ‘Amazon River at Obidos, Cudajas, and Tabatinga; Rio Negro, Brazil.’

It apparently practises an interesting reproductive strategy in which the eggs are deposited in a shallow depression excavated from the substrate and guarded by the male.

This species was described from Suriname but no specific locality was given.

It’s currently accepted to occur throughout much of the Amazon river system in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia with additional records from coastal drainages of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana plus the island of Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago).

Décor is relatively unimportant and maintenance simple provided sufficient space is available.

A natural-style arr…