Peacock gudgeon

Male

The Pastellgrundel or tail spot Schläfergrundel ( Tateurndina ocellicauda ) from Papua New Guinea is a smaller free-floating freshwater goby from the family of Schläfergrundeln ( Eleotridae ). Because of its color, it is a popular aquarium fish.

Features

The Pastellgrundeln be up to seven inches long. Full-grown, old males have a strong, beefy head, females have a rounded body. The anal fin of the female is black margins, this distinguishing feature, however, does not occur in some aquaria populations.

The closest relatives of Pastellgrundel from the monotypic genus Tateurndina are some species of the genus Mogurnda.

Dissemination

The gobies live in eastern Papua New Guinea, north of the Owen Stanley Mountains in the small rainforest streams with gravelly ground and underwater vegetation.

Way of life

Little is known of the natural way of life. It is reported that the Pastellgrundeln stay in groups in the open water, but near the bottom substrate. In case of failure, they flee to the vegetation at the edge of the water.

In the aquarium they do not have any particular temperature, hardness, or pH. They prefer carnivores feed on invertebrates. Reproduction takes place after a couple has a suitable hiding place found. The female lays 40 to 200 eggs side by side on a hard surface. The male guards the nest in the immediate vicinity, and it zufächert with the pectoral fins of fresh water and hardly comes to eating. The fully developed larvae hatch after about 10 days. Pastellgrundeln are reserved and peaceful, sometimes it happens, however, that they chew on other small fish fins.