For a variety of reasons, aquariums were predominantly small until the 1960s and held 10-100 liters of water. Accordingly, aquarists focused on small fish. It was only when the cichlids of Lake Malawi were imported that the trend changed. These “coral fish of freshwater” need large tanks due to their high intraspecific aggressiveness and soon 120 cm long aquariums – as they are today – were only considered medium-sized. Nowadays, the possibility of building really large aquariums with silicone glue hardly sets limits to the size of the tank. It just has to fit into the house…
What is still missing from the range of ornamental fish are medium-sized (10-15 cm long) schooling fish, which go well with cichlids and catfish in modern, larger aquariums and bring some life into the tank. The tetras of the genus Jupiaba are ideal for this. They are found practically throughout South America, even if the main distribution area is in the north. There are around 25 different species, although there are currently only four species that have a double shoulder spot: Jupiaba abramoides, J. anteroides, J. citrina and J. poranga. Of these, we have now been able to import J. anteroides from Peru for the first time. The species grows to about 10 cm long. These beautiful fish come from the Cenepa River, which has recently become very famous due to the red Nannostomus discovered there.
For our customers: the animals have code 209373 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
