The characins of the genus Pyrrhulina can be better compared to cichlids than to other characins in terms of their behavior. The males occupy small territories in the breeding season, color themselves splendidly and defend the spawn energetically until the young hatch.
The generic name Pyrrhulina means “small bullfinch” because the males of many species develop splendid reds in the coloring in the breeding mood, that remind of the red plumage of the male bullfinch. Also Pyrrhulina brevis from Peru, which we can offer just once again, has this characteristic. The males first get strong orange fins with increasing spawning readiness, later they develop additionally cherry red spots on the body.
Unfortunately our current imports are not quite so far (but it can’t take long anymore), so we add to this post, which – as always – shows animals from our current stock, also a picture of a young adult male and a splendid male from previous imports.
Pyrrhulina brevis grows to about 7-8 cm in length, eats all common fish food and has no special requirements on the water quality. The water temperature can be between 22 and 30°C. Apart from the territoriality of the males at spawning time, the species can be considered peaceful, plants are not damaged.
For our customers: the fish have code 286753 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
