Devario sp. 'purple cypris'
Etymology
Devario: appears to be derived from a local vernacular name for the type species of the genus Cyprinus (now Devario) devario Hamilton, 1822.
Classification
Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae
Maximum Standard Length
40 – 45 mm.
Aquarium SizeTop ↑
An aquarium with surface dimensions of 75 ∗ 30 cm or similar should be the smallest considered.
Diet
Almost certain to prey chiefly on insects and their larvae in nature although in the aquarium it’s a largely unfussy feeder and will accept most foods.
A good quality dried product can be used as the staple diet but this should be supplemented with regular meals of small live and frozen fare such as bloodworm, Daphnia, Artemia, etc., for the best colouration and conditioning.
Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑
This species is peaceful and can be maintained alongside other small, peaceful cyprinids.
Bottom-dwellers could include loaches from genera such as Lepidocephalichthys or Nemacheilus plus catfishes such as Akysis, Hara or Erethistes spp.
Freshwater gobies like Rhinogobius or Stiphodon spp. and many freshwater shrimp should also work.
It’s a schooling species by nature and really should be kept in a group of at least 8-10 specimens which will not only make the fish less nervous but result in a more effective, natural-looking display while males will also display their best colours as they compete with one other for female attention.
Sexual Dimorphism
Sexually mature females should be rounder-bellied, less colourful and a little larger than males.
NotesTop ↑
This unidentified species has only appeared in the aquarium trade on a handful of occasions and it has been widely misidentified as Inlecypris jayarami (Barman, 1984).
Specimens examined by Collins et al. (2012) possessed the following characters: barbels absent; snout blunt and round; supraorbital groove present; infraorbital process IO1 absent; lateral line complete; approximately 9-10 lateral bars; fine dark granulation and no stripes on fins.
It differs from D. jayarami by possessing 9-10 lateral bars which progressively increase in size posteriorly (vs. 12-13 bars which decrease in size posteriorly), 12 anal-fin rays (vs. 15-16) and a blunter head profile with a lack of convexity behind the head (vs. head profile conical with noticeable convexity behind the head).
References
- Collins R. A., K. F. Armstrong, R. Meier, Y. Yi, S. D. J. Brown, R. H. Cruickshank, S. Keeling, and C. Johnston, 2012 - PLoS ONE 7(1): e28381
Barcoding and border biosecurity: identifying cyprinid fishes in the aquarium trade.
