Diamond tetra

Brillantsalmler ( Moenkhausia pittieri )

The Brillantsalmler ( Moenkhausia pittieri ) belongs to the family of the Real tetras ( Characidae ) and occurs in Valenciasee in northern Venezuela. The species was named after Henri Pittier, a Swiss naturalist and biologist.

Features

The Brillantsalmler has a high-backed, laterally strongly flattened body and six inches long. Females are smaller. Older animals are increasingly higher-backed, their dorsal fin, the anal fin and the ventral fins are extended. They are then dyed silver gray, shining bluish white. Individual shed light golden, silvery, green or copper-colored. The fin tips are white. The upper part of the iris is bright red.

• Fins formula: Dorsal 11, Anal 26-29.
• Dandruff formula: MLR 33-36.

Way of life

The Brillantsalmler is a lively schooling fish. It feeds on small free-swimming crustaceans, insects and their larvae. Brillantsalmler are oviparous and lay up to 400 eggs. The fry hatch at a temperature of 25-28 ° C after 30 to 60 hours.

System

The Brillantsalmler belongs to the genus Moenkhausia and in the family of the Real tetras ( Characidae ). The genus Moenkhausia is currently not assigned to any subfamily. It belongs to with some other closely related genera of the Hemigrammus clade.

Hunting and

The Brillantsalmler were imported in the 1933 first came to Germany as aquarium fish and is quite often offered in Aquaristfachhandel.