This cute blue-eye originates from the surroundings of the town Timika in the Indonesian province Papua on New Guinea. It was discovered and scientifically described relatively late (1999); at first it was thought to be the same species as P. reticulatus, whose locality is about 900 km further northwest (seen from Timika). But then it turned out that they are different species.
The animals reach a maximum length of about 3 cm (without caudal fin), males are slightly larger than females. In nature they live in strongly shaded jungle streams of about 2 m width. There pH-values between 6,7 and 7,8 and water temperatures between 24 and 28°C were measured. One must always keep in mind that such measurements are always only snapshots and in nature the values can occasionally deviate significantly up and down. Nevertheless they show that the species is obviously not adapted to extreme conditions.
The care and breeding are comparable with other blue-eyes. It is best to keep the completely peaceful animals in a group of 10-20 specimens of both sexes. They eat any common ornamental fish food, it only has to fit into the small mouth. Spawning takes place in fine plants, these fish do not practice brood care. The newly hatched fry are tiny and grow quite slowly.
For our customers: the animals have code 446022 on our stock list. Please note that we supply only wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
