An incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision, P. teugseli relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species along with others of its genus are some of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.
They have several interesting adaptations. The swim bladder is divided into 2 parts…

This species is popular in the aquarium hobby and unlike the majority of congeners tends to spend a fair amount of time away from the substrate, often forming groups in midwater.

It has been placed in the unofficial ‘C. elegans group’, which contains a number of species exhibiting similarities in morphology and colour pattern, some of which remain unidentified in scientific terms.

Crenicichla compressiceps are an excellent little fish. They are small, but they swim a great deal (and can be incredibly quick) so require larger aquaria than other, similar sized fish.

In the wild, Compressiceps are insect feeders. They will wait quietly then quickly sweep down and prey on any nearby insects. They have good vision in the night and will often feed in the dark.

Be careful when choosing tankmates, though as previously mentioned it may be mandatory to include some fish to e…

Also known as the Speckled Bichir, this is an incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision. P. retropinnis relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species along with others of its genus are some of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

They have several interesting adapt…

The Red Terror can be troublesome to breed due to pairing problems – if a pair of fish are incompatible and are housed together for any length of time, it is likely that the weaker fish will be killed. The best way of getting a true pair is to grow 6 juveniles up until a noticeably strong pair has formed. Also, its size means finding an aquarium and suitable breeding surfaces can be difficult. As previously mentioned, rocks (siliconed if necessary) and bits of slate used to create man-made caves…

An incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision, P. delhezi relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species, along with others of its genus, is one of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

They have several interesting adaptations. The swim bladder is divided into 2 par…

This species is among a number of congeners native to the rio Negro region to possess a colour pattern with an oblique dark bar running along the dorsal surface of the body.

This unofficial group also includes C. burgessi, C. davidsandsi, C. duplicareus, C. imitator, C. melini, and C. serratus, and among these C. duplicareus is most easily-confused with C. adolfoi.

P. weeksii is one of the "upper-jawed" tribe of polypterids so named on account of the upper jaw being longer than or equal in length to the lower jaw. It is one of the rarer bichir species in the hobby. Like other bichirs it is an incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision, relying on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species along with others of its genus are some of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have…

Native to extreme northern Peru and coastal drainages of western Ecuador as far north as the Río Esmereldas drainage and possibly beyond. The form from the Esmereldas and above may represent a different species (see ‘notes’).

An incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision, P. delhezi relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species, along with others of its genus, is one of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

They have several interesting adaptations. The swim bladder is divided into 2 par…