-Var.-I.-S50035_2.jpg "© Hippocampus-Bildarchiv")
Hyphessobrycon roseus
Yellow Phantom Tetra
SynonymsTop ↑
Megalamphodus roseus Géry, 1960
Etymology
Hyphessobrycon: from the Ancient Greek υπελάσσων (hyphésson), meaning ‘of lesser stature’, used as a prefix in this case, plus the generic name Brycon.
roseus: from the Latin roseus, meaning ‘pink, rose-coloured’, in reference to the “bright rose” body colour.
Classification
Order: Characiformes Family: Characidae
Distribution
This species’ range extends eastward from the Courantyne River in Suriname to the Oyapock/Oiapoque drainage which forms a large portion of the border between French Guiana and Brazil. It has also been recorded from some watersheds between these two systems, including the Suriname, Maroni and Sinnamary rivers.
Type locality is ‘Creeks near Gaa Kaba, Maroni, French Guiana’.
Habitat
The majority of records pertain to upper reaches of tributary drainages and igarapés in areas of tropical forest. Such habitats typically contain slow to moderately-flowing water with thick, often overhanging, riparian vegetation and sandy substrates covered in fallen branches, tree roots and leaf litter.
The water is typically acidic, of negligible carbonate hardness and conductivity and stained brownish due to the presence of humic substances released by decomposing organic matter.
Maximum Standard Length
15 – 20 mm.
Aquarium SizeTop ↑
An aquarium with base dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent should be the smallest considered.
Maintenance
Perhaps looks best in an arrangement comprising a sandy substrate plus some driftwood roots and branches although it should also thrive in a planted set-up.
The addition of dried leaf litter would further emphasise the natural feel and as well as offering additional cover for the fish brings with it the growth of microbe colonies as decomposition occurs.
The latter are useful since they provide an additional food source for both adults and fry while the humic substances released by decaying leaves are also considered beneficial.
Water Conditions
Temperature: 20 – 28 °C
pH: 5.0 – 7.0
Hardness: 18 – 179 ppm
Diet
Likely to be omnivorous feeding on small invertebrates, crustacea, filamentous algae, fallen fruit and suchlike in nature.
In aquaria it may survive on a diet of dried foods but like most fishes does best when offered a varied menu which in this case should also contain live and frozen chironomid larvae (bloodworm), mosquito larvae, Daphnia, Moina, etc.
Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑
Very peaceful making it an ideal resident of the well-researched community aquarium.
It is perhaps best-maintained alongside similarly-sized characids, gasteropelecids, lebiasinids, smaller callichthyid or loricariid catfishes and non-predatory, small-to-medium-sized cichlids.
Try to buy a mixed-sex group of at least 8-10 specimens, include other schooling fishes to provide security, and you’ll be rewarded with a more natural-looking spectacle.
Sexual Dimorphism
Sexually mature females are noticeably deeper-bodied and a little larger than males.
Reproduction
An egg-scattering free spawner exhibiting no parental care.
When in good condition adults will spawn often and in a mature aquarium it is possible that small numbers of fry may start to appear without intervention, but if you want to maximise yield a more controlled approach is required.
The adult group can still be conditioned together but a smaller aquarium should also be set up and filled with mature water. This should be very dimly lit and the base covered with some kind of mesh of a large enough grade so that the eggs can fall through but small enough so that the adults cannot reach them. The widely available plastic ‘grass’-type matting can also be used and works well, as does a layer of glass marbles. Alternatively, filling much of the tank with a fine-leaved plant such as Taxiphyllum spp. or spawning mops can also return decent results.
The water itself should be of slightly acidic to neutral pH with a temperature towards the upper end of the range suggested above. An air-powered sponge filter or air stone(s) should also be included to provide oxygenation and water movement.
When the adult fish are well-conditioned a single pair or group comprising one or two males and several females can then be introduced to each container and left in place until eggs are detected (typically the following morning).
Initial food should be Paramecium or a proprietary dry food of sufficiently small (5-50 micron) grade, introducing Artemia nauplii, microworm, etc., once the fry are large enough to accept them.
NotesTop ↑
This small species is a popular aquarium fish but there is some confusion surrounding its identity. Two colour forms have been traded, one of which also possesses tiny hooks on the fin rays.
It can be distinguished from congeners by colour pattern; the body is rose-coloured, fins red with no black markings, and the ovoid humeral spot is prominent, measuring around half of the body depth.
H. roseus is one of several congeners formerly included in the genus Megalamphodus Eigenmann 1915, which was diagnosed by possession of only a single row of teeth. This was synonymised with Hyphessobrycon by Weitzman and Palmer (1997) who found that some individuals of M. megalopterus, the type species, and the related M. micropterus possessed two rows of teeth as in some members of their ‘rosy tetra’ group (see below). In addition, most of the species formerly included in Megalamphodus display other characters associated with this putative assemblage, most obviously a dark marking in the dorsal-fin and a dark humeral spot.
Hyphessobrycon was raised by Durbin in Eigenmann (1908) as a subgenus of Hemigrammus, differing from the latter by the absence of scales on the caudal-fin.
The grouping was revised by Eigenmann (1918, 1921) while Géry (1977) created artificial groups of species based on colour pattern, and these definitions are still widely used today, e.g., the H. agulha group, the H. heterohabdus group, etc. These cannot be considered to represent monophyletic assemblages, however, and their concepts continue to be redefined.
Weitzman & Palmer (1997) hypothesised the existence of a monophyletic assemblage within the genus based on colour pattern and male fin morphology that they termed the ‘rosy tetra clade’, with one of the characters supporting its monophyly being presence of a prominent dark marking on the dorsal-fin. This assemblage, plus other morphologically similar species, is considered to represent Hyphessobrycon sensu stricto by some authors, with the remaining species included in a much-expanded H. heterohabdus group.
Others have proposed conflicting, typically more restricted, views of both the genus and/or its constituent species groups, and significant confusion remains. What is clear is that, as currently recognised, Hyphessobrycon is a polyphyletic lineage containing several genera.
The process of splitting it up has already started, and Malabarba et al. (2012) revalidated the genus Ectrepopterus Fowler, previously considered a synonym of Hyphessobrycon. They also analysed its relationships within the Characidae in the context of Mirande’s (2010) previous work, but included the type species, H. compressus, for the first time in such a study. The results demonstrated that H. compressus is more closely-related to ‘rosy tetra’ representatives such as H. eques, H. pulchripinnis, and H. socolofi than other members of the genus including H. anisitsi, H. bifasciatus, H. elachys, H. herbertaxelrodi, and H. luetkeni.
References
- Géry, J., 1960 - Senckenbergiana Biologica 41(1/2): 15-39
Contributions to the study of the characoid fishes, No. 6. New Cheirodontinae from French Guiana. - Calcagnotto, D., S. A. Schaefer, and R. DeSalle, 2005 - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36(1): 135-153
Relationships among characiform fishes inferred from analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences. - Géry, J., 1977 - T. F. H. Publications, Inc.: 1-672
Characoids of the world. - Malabarba, L. R., V. A. Bertaco, F. R. Carvalho & T. O. Litz., 2012 - Zootaxa 3204: 47-60
Revalidation of the genus Ectrepopterus Fowler (Teleostei: Characiformes), with the redescription of its type species, E. uruguayensis. - Mirande, J. M., 2010 - Neotropical Ichthyology 8(3): 385-568
Phylogeny of the family Characidae (Teleostei: Characiformes): from characters to taxonomy. - Mol, J. H. A., 2012 - Brill Academic Publishers: 1-890
The Freshwater Fishes of Suriname. - Mol, J. H., R. P. Vari, R. Covain, P. W. Willink, and S. Fisch-Muller, 2012 - Cybium 36(1): 293-319
Annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Suriname. - Oliveira, C. A., G. S. Avellino, K. T. Abe, T. C. Mariguela, R. C. Benine, G. Orti, R. P. Vari, and R. M. Corrêa e Castro, 2011 - BMC Evolutionary Biology 11(1): 275-300
Phylogenetic relationships within the speciose family Characidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes) based on multilocus analysis and extensive ingroup sampling. - Planquette, P., P. Keith and P.-Y. Le Bail, 1996 - Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle, Ministère de l'Environnement, Paris: 1-429
Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane (Tome 1). - Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander and C. J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds), 2003 - EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre: i-xi + 1-729
Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. CLOFFSCA. - Weitzman, S. H. and L. Palmer, 1997 - Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 7(3): 209-242
A new species of Hyphessobrycon (Teleostei: Characidae) from the Neblina region of Venezuela and Brazil, with comments on the putative `rosy tetra clade'. - Zarske, A., 2014 - Vertebrate Zoology 64(2): 139-167
Zur Systematik einiger Blutsalmler oder "Rosy Tetras" (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characidae).
