The Hifin barb is a very unusual representative of its kind. The original home of this small species, which only grows to 3-4 cm long, is in the north of India, in Assam and northern Bengal. There it inhabits slowly flowing waters. The males of O. crenuchoides develop a huge, sail-like dorsal fin. This fin remains small in the females and has a pretty yellow-black pattern. Some males disguise themselves as females and their dorsal fin remains small. This allows them to approach the spawning sites and spread their genetic material without being involved in competitive fights with the larger males. This behavior is mainly known from cichlids; it is called “sneaker” behavior.
In contrast to almost all barbs in the usual sense, O. crenuchoides spawn on the underside of leaves with their belly facing upwards.
These small barbs are completely undemanding in terms of water composition. They eat all commercially available ornamental fish food. In their homeland, at the foot of the Himalayas, it gets very hot in summer, but during the monsoon season the water temperature drops to 14°C! You don’t have to keep O. crenuchoides that cool, but it is a good idea to unplug the heating for a few months of the year and keep them at room temperature. This keeps the fish fit and you can enjoy them for a long time. O. crenuchoides behaves completely peacefully towards conspecifics, other fish, shrimps, snails and plants.
For our customers: the animals have code 440782 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
