The name of this fish is unclear with the fact that diagnoses for several members of this genus do not appear to exist in the English language making identification even trickier. It’s not common in the aquarium trade, either.

Homalopteroides spp. are specialised micropredators feeding on small crustaceans, insect larvae and other invertebrates.

In captivity some sinking dried foods may be accepted but regular meals of live or frozen Daphnia, Artemia, bloodworm, etc., are essential for the maintenance of good health.

H. sexmaculata is very similar to H. leonardi but can be told apart since it possesses 2 simple and 12-14 branched pectoral-fin rays (versus 6 simple and 11 branched rays). Both of these species are sometimes misidentified as H. yunnanensis which has 7 simple and 12 branched pectoral-fin rays.

Type locality is given as ‘Lake Meninju, Sumatra, Indonesia’, currently known as Danau (lake) Maninjau, but conceivably the fish may have been obtained from the outflowing Antokan river rather on its western side than the lake itself.

An obligate dweller of swiftly-flowing streams and headwaters containing clear, oxygen-saturated water. It often inhabits riffles and runs and is likely to display a preference for shallower zon…

This fish is normally imported alongside the congener R. candidianus and is actually the commoner of the two in the aquarium trade.

It looks very similar to R. candidianus but does not grow as large and possesses a more rounded snout.

Most specimens also have spot-like markings on the sides of the head which has led to them being identified as R. nantaiensis, but the fish do no…

This species is normally imported alongside a smaller-growing, near-identical congener currently listed as R. cf. nantaiensis with both traded as R. candidianus.

They can be separated by snout length, which is noticeably longer in R. candidianus, and adult size with R. cf. nantaiensis reaching just 50-55 mm.

R. candidianus can be distinguished from other congeners by a combination of cha…

C. amandajanea is rare in the aquarium trade and appears to be variable in colour pattern to an extent, with some individuals posssessing relatively larger dark spots on the body, for example.

Unfortunately diagnostic characters cannot be provided since we’ve been unable to obtain the type description, and little has been written about this species since it was published.

In the upper Iténez it most commonly inhabits riparian zones with sandy substrates or edges of sand banks, although it’s also been collected in smaller streams and residual flood waters.

It typically forms large aggregations of up to several thousand individuals and at the confluence of the ríos Paraguá and Iténez occurs sympatrically with the congener C. paragua.

This species can be confused with three similar-looking fishes of uncertain taxonomic status which have been assigned the C numbers C024, C077, and C109 in the aquarium hobby.

C024 and C109 are unlikely to be conspecific in that they occur in Pará state, Brazil, several thousand kilometers outside the range of C. acutus, in the rio Guamá (Tocantins drainage), and lower rio Xingu, respectively.