The Seychelles archipelago off East Africa in the Indian Ocean is known mainly for the giant tortoises that live there. There are hardly any freshwater fish in the Seychelles, most of the freshwater species were brought there by man as food fish. The vast majority of the rest – apart from a few gobies – consists of marine fish, which only migrate to freshwater intermittently. The endemic killifish Pachypanchax playfairii is something very special.
The Golden Panchax, as it is called in English, was brought to Germany as early as 1924 and has been bred in aquariums ever since. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, it was somewhat forgotten, because at that time small aquariums, especially with small tetras, were in fashion. There P. playfairii attracted unpleasant attention, because it can be quarrelsome under such conditions.
But a few aquarists kept faith with him and so we are very happy to be able to offer some specimens as German offspring. Concerning the water values the Golden Panchax is completely undemanding, in nature it even goes into brackish waters. A special feature of the species is that the scales along the back appear slightly ruffled. This is completely normal for this species, which by the way usually grows to 7 cm, according to literature up to 10 cm, and is not a sign of disease. The females can be easily recognized by the black spot in the dorsal fin, which is missing in the males.
For our customers: the animals have code 342402 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
