Recently we obtained two specimens of a small tetra as a sample from Peru. The supplier asked us for the determination of the species. The animals looked somewhat familiar to us. Didn´t we get such fish not from Colombia formerly? A short e-mail correspondence with the tetra expert Martin Hoffmann solved the riddle: this species has been described scientifically only one year ago by Axel Zarske as Hemigrammus rubrostriatus on the basis of specimens imported by us indeed from Colombia.
There are some other, similar looking species, like Hemigrammus erythrozonus (Glowlight tetra) or the several species of Flag tetra (Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus, H. amapaensis, H. agulha, H. eschwartzae). However, Hemigrammus rubrostriatus can be distinguished from all of them even in fright coloration by a shining spot on the basis of the tail, which is lacking in all other species mentioned above. Such a spot is known in Hemigrammus for example by the Head-and-Tail-Light tetras (Hemigrammus ocellifer and H. falsus).
We hope that we will be able to import a larger number of specimens of the attractive new species now. If we are successful it will for sure be no real problem to breed the fish and make it accessible at least to all the aquarists that have a special interest in tetras.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
