One of the most ubiquitous species in the hobby and several ornamental strains are available including ‘long-finned’, ‘golden’, ‘albino’, and ‘super red’, for which care is identical to that of the ‘standard’ fish.

Unfortunately the degree of inbreeding amongst farm-bred stock has resulted in a situation whereby many of the fish available today are genetically weak and prone to disease or develop physical deformities.

It was initially going to be described as Hyphessobrycon cardinalis by Myers and Weitzman (1956) but just before this was due to be published Schultz presented an alternative description in the hobbyist magazine ‘Tropical Fish Hobbyist’ and named the fish after the publication’s founder, Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod.

A significant proportion of the fish available in the aquarium trade are still wild caught or derive from community-led breeding projects such as Project Piaba in the middle Negro region, where this sp…

This species is also known by the alternative names ‘green’ or ‘Chinese’ barb. The natural ‘green’ form is an infrequent find in the aquarium trade whereas the selectively-bred ‘golden’ variant is farmed in huge numbers and is among the most popular of freshwater aquarium fish.

The latter was first produced in the 1960s and is now so ubiquitous that many hobbyists are initially unaware that it is not the natural form.

An easily kept cichlid whose character more than compensates for its somewhat drab colouration, S. casuarius is sometimes seen for sale as "Humphead", "Lionhead" or "Buffalohead" cichlid. It is a reophilic fish meaning it inhabits fast waters. Its swimbladder is modified to reduce buoyancy and thus prevent it from being swept away by the strong currents in it's natural habitat. In the aquarium it spends most of it's time resting on the substrate or hiding …

Vieja bifasciata are often confused for vieja synspilum but can be told apart as bifasciata have two prominent horizontal lines running between their eyes (hence the name). They are a very colourful fish and respond to their owner's presence – usually looking for food!

Bifasciata are not particularly demanding in terms of water parameters and easy to keep, especially if suitable tankmates can be found. It is sometimes the case that a pair of fish that will not live together in a tank on …

Given its eventual size and natural behaviour this species is largely unsuitable for the home aquarium, and we know of only a handful of private aquarists with the facilities required to house it long-term.

Unfortunately juveniles are readily available in the trade, although the scarcity of privately-maintained adults would suggest that most fail to reach their potential.

M. ramirezi is also known by the names ‘Ramirez’ dwarf cichlid’ and ‘butterfly cichlid’ and is among the more popular dwarf cichlids in the aquarium hobby.

As a result, it is produced on a commercial basis in huge numbers and a number of ornamental strains have been developed including ‘gold’, ‘long-finned’ (both blue and gold forms; also traded as ‘lyre-tail’, ‘veil-tail’ and ‘hi-fin’), ‘electric/neon blue’, ‘super neon blue gold’ ‘pearl/perlmutt’ and ‘balloon’.

A well known and popular aquarium fish. Angels are available in a number of colour forms including black, gold and koi strains, in addition to the standard silver. It is worth remembering that although angels are generally peaceful, they are still cichilds so some aggression should be expected from time to time.

Brachyplatystoma spp. are distinguished from all other catfishes by two synapomorphies. The first comprises several morphological characters relating to the skull, specifically that the mandibular suspensorium (that which connects the lower jaw bone to the skull) is greatly expanded mediodorsally to form a large plate approaching the parasphenoid bone, with the hyomandibula and metapterygoid similarly enlarged.

Previously included as a member of the genus Cichlasoma, the midas cichlid is often confused with the red devil, A. labiatus. The two can be distinguished through differences in morphology. As suggested by its scientific name, A. labiatus often possesses characteristically large lips, although this is variable and should not be used as a defining indicator of species. More reliable differences include the bigger nuchal hump and more thick-set appearance in A. citrinellus.

The midas exists in many n…