Omobranchus belongs to the Blenniidae family, most of which live in marine environments. Due to their funny behaviour and the generally easy keeping the blennies are favorite fish of the marine hobbyists. There are only very few species that settle permanently in fresh or brackish water.
One of the latter is the pretty Omobranchus zebra, which we were able to import now from India for the very first time. The species has a large distribution along the coastline of the Indo-West-Pacific, ranging from the Bay of Bengal in the west to Singapore in the east. The fish are found almost exclusively in brackish and fresh water, although they are said to tolerate also pure marine water. They breed in the mangrove area in holes in the bottom. The larvae develop in the sea.
Our specimens have proofed so far to be very lively and healthy, even without adding salt. The photographed specimens for example stayed about ten days in the photo tank in pure freshwater to settle themselves and obviously felt very well. Nevertheless we suggest a slight addition of salt – about 5g/l. For all cases salt is used for a long time sight we recommend commercially manufactured sea salt for coral fish aquaria.
Males and females have a similar coloration, but the dorsal fin and the lateral spots are more intensively colored in males. The easiest detectable sexual dimorphism can be found in the structure of the anal fin. In this fin the male´s anterior four rays are flattened on the tip. Besides this the males become larger than the females. There are a lot of additional sexual dimorphisms, we recommend the study of the paper by Springer & Gomon (1975) for all who have a special interest in these things.
The fish feed readily on all usual types of food for ornamental fishes. In nature, these fishes are carnivorous and feed on small invertebrates. The maximum size is around 7 cm. Like all blennies, these fishes defend a small territory, but neither conspecifics nor tankmates belonging to other species become hurt usually.
For our customers: the fish have code 439742 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Omobranchus: ancient Greek and Latin, means “shoulder gill”. zebra: refers to the pattern of the same-named wild horse.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
Literature: Springer, V. G. & M. F. Gomon (1975): Revision of the blenniid fish genus Omobranchus with descriptions of three new species and notes on other species of the tribe Omobranchini. Smithonian contributions to zoology 177.
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Indien / India |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 5-6 |
