This interesting species, which we obtained from Venezuela, belongs to the Curimata-relationship. At the first glimps it reminds one strongly to the well known headstander (Chilodus punctatus), but it can be easily recognized by the black stripe through the eye. Moreover, Cyphocharax swims in a “normal” horizontal way.
Cyphocharax feed on Aufwuchs and look the whole day through on stones, roots, and plants for algae and the small animals inside them. Against each other C. multilineatus are very peaceful. Maximum length reported for the species is about 10 cm.
We have also made a small film about these fish, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uaKiKAcnTI
For our customers: the fish has code 251353 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Cyphocharax: from ancient Greek, means “Charax with a hump”; Charax is another genus of tetra. multilineatus: Latin, means “with many stripes”. Chilodus: ancient Greek, means “with teeth on the lips”. punctatus: Latin, means “spotted”.
Suggestion of a common name: Golden Mascara Tetra
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
