The Asian knifefishes were long known to aquarists as Notopterus species. The American scientist Tyson Roberts revised the Afro-Asian knifefishes (Notopteridae) in 1992 and used the generic name Chitala Fowler, 1934, for the high-backed Southeast Asian knifefishes, also known as thousand-dollar fishes. Only the relatively flat-backed Asian species remain in Notopterus. The actual thousand-dollar fish […]
The Asian clown knifefishes with a well-developed dorsal fin were formerly grouped in the genus Notopterus. Currently, the genus Notopterus contains two externally indistinguishable species, N. notopterus and N. synurus, while the high-backed species have been transferred to the genus Chitala. From the genus Chitala we currently have the very attractive species Chitala blanci in […]
The bony tongues (Osteoglossidae) are ancient fish nobility. They bear witness to the time when Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica and South America still formed a coherent continent called Gondwana. It was during this time that the bony tongues evolved. About 150 million years ago, Gondwana broke apart and today’s continents were formed. As if on […]
Knifefishes are found in the Old World (Africa, Asia) and in the New World (South and Central America). However, the two groups are not closely related. Aquaristically, however, they are quite comparable. They inspire above all by their elegant swimming. The very special fin structure allows them to maneuver both forward and backward. At the […]
Elephant fishes or mormyrids are very interesting and also entertaining fish. They communicate among themselves with electrical signals and have – similar to birds – a relatively well developed cerebellum. Their bizzare body shape makes them additionally interesting. However, they have little to offer in terms of color, mostly coming along in shades of brown […]
One of the absolute classics among the large fish, which have been an indispensable part of the assortment of zoos, show aquariums and also private large aquariums for decades, is the silver arowana, Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, which is widespread in the Amazon region and the rivers Rupununi and Oyapock (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guyana and […]
We obtained from Nigeria a species of mormyrid which we haven´t seen for years: Brienomyrus brachyistius. This comparably small species (maximum length reported is 17.cm, usually the fish becomes 10-12 cm long) is a close relative to the species B. niger, which we were also able to import again (see http://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/brienomyrus-niger_de_1152.html). The intelligent and playful […]
Most often this bizarre mormyrid is kept as a single specimen. This is due to the fact that small groups of this fish most often don´t do well in a long time sight and they can perform mobbing against each other even to death. However, in the wild these up to 30 cm long, but rarely longer than 15 cm found animals form sometimes really large schools. In our facility they are kept in groups of about 50 animals in tanks of 200 x 60 x 60 cm. Here the elephant fish forms schools and shows a schooling behaviour as it is hardly seen in any other fish in the aquarium.
More information on Gnathonemus petersii is provided here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/the_possibly_rarest_fish_in_the_world_lives_in_aquarium_glaser_s_fishhouse_en/
For our customers: the fish have code 133502 (7-10 cm) and 133503 (10-12 cm) on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
We obtain comparatively often this interesting mormyrid from Nigeria. Sadly systematics of Mormyrus are confusing. According to the latest scientific state of the art currently five species of Mormyrus occur in Nigeria, among them M. rume. The shape of the snout is the best feature to distinguish the species. Formerly the fish portayed here was […]
The Asian featherbacks, which have a well developed dorsal fin, have been placed in the genus Notopterus for a long time. Nowadays the genus Notopterus is seen monotypic (it contains only the single species N. notopterus) and the high-backed forms have been placed in another genus, namely Chitala. Currently we have the very attractive species […]
If there would be a Top Ten ranking on the most extraordinary species of freshwater fish of the world, this species would appear for sure: the African Butterfly fish, Pantodon buchholzi. We have this strange animal – it becomes about 10 cm long – always in stock. Our specimens originate from Nigeria. Pantodon can really […]
The term “rare” is – as anybody knows – much a matter of subjectivity. As
far as small species of fish are concerned, “rare” can mean that they
are only rarely collected, or that they are hardly ever exported or
imported, respectively, or that they are hardly ever kept in aquaria.
“Rare” hardly ever means in that context “there do exist only a few
specimens in the world”. This would be nonsense in almost all cases, for
small fish are always part of a food chain and are placed here in the
very beginning. So even species that are seldom or never seen in the
trade do exist in large populations of millions and millions of
individuals in the natural habitat.*
Things are different in the animal we want to introduce to you today: a
golden-yellow, wild collected specimen of Gnathonemus petersii, the
elephant nose fish. The species itself is anything but rare. We can
offer it the whole year through and for moderate prizes. There are
almost anytime as many specimens available as needed. I many parts of
the enormous range the species inhabits it is a common food fish for the
poor, because it is abundant and cheap. But a fishermen in Nigeria can
catch every day hundreds of elephant nose fish and will most probably
never in his lifetime see a golden specimen. It is very likely that the
fish in our fishhouse is the only live specimen of golden elephant nose
fish on the planet that exists currently. And yes, we think that this
can be called “rare”….
This rarity lives happily in the aquarium like any other normal elephant
nose fish. It communicates with conspecifics in many ways, for elephant
nose fish are comparatively intelligent fishes. A part of the pictures
show our “goldie” – which is most probably a male – in company of a
normally coloured female. Both are about 12 cm long.
*For the purists among our readers: yes, of course, we know about the types
of killifish, loach, and cave fish that inhabit only a single spring or a
single hole in the ground. And of course we know that there can exist
only a few hundered specimens per population due to the extremely small
habitat. But these are really rare exceptions from the rule and do not
falsify the basic statement.
For our customers: the fish has code 133563 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
The Bony tongues (Osteoglossidae) are real old high aristocracy among the recent fish species. They are witnesses of the ancient super continent of Gondwana, which included the recent parts of Africa, India, South America, Antarctica, and Australia. About 150 million years ago this super continent began to break. The Bony tongues drifted away from each […]
We received a species of bred fish from Singapore which is usually only traded as wild collected ones: Mormyrus rume. Currently the genus Mormyrus contains 24 species and subspecies. The determination is a very difficult task. Moreover, juveniles look totally different to adults. We obtained bred specimens of a species of Mormyrus from Singapore under […]
The Asian featherbacks, which have a well developed dorsal fin, have been placed in the genus Notopterus for a long time. Nowadays the genus Notopterus is seen monotypic (it contains only the single species N. notopterus) and the high-backed forms have been placed in another genus, namely Chitala. Currently we have the very attractive species […]
Currently only very occasionally importations from the DR Congo appear – mainly due to the unsatisfying flight situation. So it is highly appreciated that we finally were able to import some specimens of the bizarre genus Campylomormyrus that bear the common name elephant fishes. Systematics of Campylomormyrus are rather complicated; in all probability our fish […]
This week we obtained from Nigeria a species of mormyrid which we haven´t seen for years: Brienomyrus brachyistius. This comparably small species (maximum length reported is 17.cm, usually the fish becomes 10-12 cm long) is a close relative to the species B. niger, which we were also able to import again (see http://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archive/miscellaneous-en/Brienomyrus_niger_en/). The intelligent […]
Code 273208
There are about 200 species of Mormyridae (Elephantfishes) in Africa. Some of them belong to the most important freshwater fish species of the continent, due to their abundance and good taste. In the aquarium hobby, on the other hand, mormyrids are only rarely seen. All mormyrids belong to the weakly electrical fishes and communicate on […]
(29.Nov.2007) Currently in stock: one of the rarest Mormyrids in the world: Isichthys henryi. Our supplier from Guinea informed us that this item appear only 2-4weeks per year! So it only can be called luck to have nearly one hundret pieces right now in stock! To keep the single is recommended, because they are agressive […]
March 2007: From the environment of Lubumbashi, the second largest city the Congo comes Gnathonemus longibarbis to us. They were caught in close proximity to Bondaka and are probably for the first time in the trade. In nature they feed on water insects and their larvae, their final size probably lies at approx. 40cm. Since […]
As next the relative of the largest truly freshwater fish Arapaima gigas Heterotis niloticus has a large attractiveness. With a maximum length of scarcely about one meter it is however more suitable for the aquarium maintenance than its South American relatives. In Africa they originally inhabit different waters types south the Sahara. A difference to […]
The Clown Featherback is well known to the hobby and has been imported as early as 1934 from South-East Asia. They are nocturnal fish and when they get older they become solitary. The fish tank should be decorated with dense patches of plants on the sides and back but should be kept with enough swimming […]
This variation of the Clown Featherback has a very marked body pattern. The breeding of C.ornata In captivity has been succeeded on several occasions. The fish spawn on the hard substrate and the eggs are guarded by the male fish, who also fawns the eggs. In nature the care of the spawn is important for […]
