From Venezuela we received a very nice color variation of Moenkhausia copei. The fish now look a bit like a stretched version of Moenkhausia collettii, where the shoulder spot so typical for M. collettii is missing and where the orange tail fin of M. collettii is red.
We were able to import Moenkhausia copei for the first time in 2011, then from Peru. They weren’t quite as strongly colored, but otherwise they match well with our current Venezuela fish. You can find a picture of the Peruvian fish on our homepage: http://www.aquariumglaser.de/fischarchiv/moenkhausia_copei_en/
Moenkhausia copei reaches a total length of about 6 cm and is widespread in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Apparently we could now import a really attractive variant of the peaceful and very lively swarm fish.
In spawn-mood, the males very well develop a strong humeral spot. This characteristic can therefore not be used reliably to distinguish between M. collettii and M. copei. The general body-form probably is the most reliable determining-characteristic.
For our customers: the animals have code 268632 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
