This species is considered endangered across its native range, but has recently begun to appear in the hobby a little more often as a result of commercial farming. It's still by no means common though. Superficially it looks very similar to the much commoner Northern purple spotted gudgeon (Mogurnda mogurnda), but can be distinguished by the presence of only 30-36 scales along its lateral line, (as opposed to 37-48 in M. mogurnda), and a higher degree of red spotting in the second dorsal fi…

A good species of gudgeon for the beginner, being tolerant of a wide range of water conditions, hardy and easily bred. We've even seen them spawning in dealer's tanks on more than one occasion. It's easily confused with the similar looking, but rarer Southern purple spotted gudgeon, Mogurnda adspersa, a fish which is now being farmed for the trade despite being endangered in nature….

Occurs in northern and eastern Australia and southern New Guinea.

In the former its range extends from the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia state around the northern and eastern coastlines of the continent as far as the Towamba river system in New South Wales state.

Appears to be endemic to southwestern Borneo though occurence records are scant. Type locality is ‘Bandjarmasin’, a port town in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Selatan (South Kalimantan), and following Kottelat (1991) it’s range extends westwards as far as the Jelai Bila river basin, near the town of Sukamara, where it’s said to occur sympatrically with the congener B. merah.

Boraras was erected in 1993 in order to separa…

A very attractive fish when in adult colouration, vieja fenestrata is not all that common in the UK hobby. It can is often confused with the more commonly available v. synspila.

Widely and incorrectly referred to as vieja synspillum, this colourful fish is the most commonly available of the vieja species to the hobby. Although not as aggressive as some of its family, it is still a fish to treat carefully.

It can be found in mildly brackish waters in its natural range but this is not recommended or required in captivity….

A strikingly coloured, if somewhat aggressive fish. Also referred to as the White Cichlid, it is occasionally available in the UK through specialist cichlid dealers.

S. leucosticta is frequently available in the ornamental trade and farmed for the purpose in several countries. It is often confused with its congener S. jurupari in aquarium literature and on websites, but is easily recognised by presence (vs. absence) of prominent white spots or vermiform markings on the sides of the head.

Although the presence of white spots on the head does not distinguish it from all known Satanoperca populations (see below), it can…

This species is relatively rare in the ornamental trade, where it is sometimes confused with its similarly-patterned congeners S. daemon and S. lilith. These three species all possess 1-3 dark blotches on the side of the body and a relatively large ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base, characters that immediately separate them from the remainder of the genus which lack blotches on the body and have a relatively small ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base.

There are currently 24 described species of Serrasalmus, many of which look superficially similar. S. serrulatus occupies a particularly confusing taxonomic position and is very tricky to identify positively. According to scientific literature it is very close in appearance to several congeners, most notably S. eigenmanni, S. hollandi, S. humeralis and S. nalseni. The separation of these is largely based on geographical range and it's possible that some of them may turn out to be synonymous…