The golden striped headstander, Anostomus tenetzi, has a very wide distribution in South America. It is recorded from Brazil, French Guyana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. The specimens on which the original descritption based, originated from Venezuela, and we were able to import them from there once more.
This beautiful fish is among the most peaceful species of headstander at all. It stay smaller than Anostomus anostomus. The latter can become more than 16 cm long, while A. ternetzi attains a maximum length of about 12 cm only.
In very young specimens of A. ternetzi the broad band along the body has wavy edges; it looks as if it would be composed of many, merged spots. Later these edges become straight in many specimens, but in others it stays wavy. Possibly this is a secondary sexual character. It is known from many species of fish that the female´s pattern is more similar to the juvenile pattern than in males.
For our customers: Anostomus ternetzi has code 206001 on our stocklist. Pleaee note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Anostomus: means “the one with the upturned mouth”. ternetzi: dedication name for Carl Ternetz (1870-1928).
Common name: Golden Striped Headstander
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer