Omnivorous and will accept most foods offered, with the stomach contents of wild specimens varying on a seasonal basis but mostly comprising insects and insect larvae (orders Trichoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera) plus some terrestrial fruits and even scales of other fishes (Sánchez et al., 2003).

In the aquarium offer live Daphnia, Artemia, Moina, bloodowrm, etc., vegetable matter in the form of blanched spinach, lettuce, cucumber, fruit, algae wafers, etc., and good quality, sinking dried foods.

This species is also referred to as ‘black-anded leporinus’, ‘striped leporinus’ and ‘eight-banded leporinus’.

Young specimens are often traded for aquaria without warning as to their potential size and requirements, and as a result it’s fairly ubiquitous in public aquarium displays.

One of the most popular and instantly recognisable fishes in the aquarium hobby, this species has been selectively-bred to produce a number of additional strains including albino, ‘golden’ (leucistic), short-bodied, long-finned and ‘diamond’ (in which the dorsal surface is covered in reflective scales).

Unfortunately years of commercial breeding have somewhat affected the genetic vigour of the ornamental strain meaning morphological defects an…