Ornamental fish Name: Arawana.

Osteoglossum bicirrhosum.

Habitat: Benthopelagic,freshwater.
Max. size:120 cm TL.
Diet: Omnivore.
Comment:
DEPARTEMENT OF FISHERIES BIOLOGY, •Body covered with very big scales.
UNIVERSITY OF RUHUNA, •Dorsal & anal fins almost fused with the caudal fin.
•2 barbels at the extremity of the lower jaw.
MATARA, •Adult silvery.
SRI LANKA •Juvenile with blue glint & a yellow orange bar.
kkamal@nara.ac.lk

Name: Angelfish.
Pterophyllum scalare.

Distribution: South America.

Max. size: Up to 15 cm.
Diet: Omnivorous.
Sexing: Isomorphic.
Compatibility: Community tank, but not with
small fishes.
Description:
•Originally black stripped silver fish.
•Secondarily developed color varieties available.
•Body strongly compressed.
Breeding:
•Egg depositors.
•Eggs are laid on near-vertical surfaces.
•They are guarded until the fry is the free
swimming.

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2
Name: Cat fish.
Pangasius hypophthalmus.

Distribution:Asia: Mekong basins. Introduced into

additional river basins for aquaculture.
Max. size: 130 cm.
Food: Omnivorous, feeding on fish and crustaceans as
well as on vegetable debris.

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 Silver shark.

Name: Sail fin Molly.

Poecilia latipinna.

Distribution: Eastern USA in coastal & estuarine

areas.
Max. size: Males reach 11 cm, Females 12 cm.
Diet: This fish will relish green food particularly,
but take most foods willingly.
Sexing: Adult male has a spectacular dorsal fin.
Description:
•The basic coloration is olive-yellow with bluish
flecks.
•The Black Lyre tail, Marble Sail fin & Chocolate
are hybrid forms of P. latipinna.
Breeding:
•Live bearer.
•Gestation period 28-35 days.

Gold sail fin molly.

Name: Black molly.
Poecilia hybrid.

Description: Central & Southern states of USA,

Northern south America.
Length: Up to 7 cm.
Diet: Omnivorous.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Description:Color differ from the original wild form.
Breeding: Live bearer.

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Molly varieties.

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 Dalmation molly-female.

Balloon molly

Name: Platy.
Xiphophorus maculatus.

Distribution: South Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras.

Length: Up to 4 cm, female slightly larger.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans, insects, plant matter,
dried food.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Sexing: Male has a pointed anal fin, females anal fin is
rounded.
Description:
Popular varieties- Blue, comet, red, tuxedo, bleeding
heart.
Breeding: Live bearer.
A mature female can release up to 100 young at a time,
but 40 is nearer the normal brood size.

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 Name: Variatus Platy.
Xiphophorus variatus.

Distribution: Mexico.
Max. size: Males up to 5.5 cm; female up to 7 cm.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans, insects, plant matter,
dried food.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Sexing: Female may have a darker patch around her
vent.
Description: Aquarium varieties differ very much in
color from the original wild specimens.e.g.. Marigold
platy, Leopard, Sunset, Tuxedo, Tiger, Delta-topsail….
Breeding: Live bearer.

Name: Sword tail.

Xiphophorus helleri.

Distribution: Southern Mexico, Guatemala.

Max. size: Males 10 cm, female larger.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans, insects, plant matter,
dried food.
Compatibility: Community tank, but may harass smaller
fishes.
Description:
•Sword is a development of the caudal fin of the male.
•Mouth is upturned.
•Many color varieties- Berlin, tuxedo, green, red jet,
wag tail, hi fin…
Breeding: Live bearer.

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 Female

Name: Guppy.
Poecilia reticulata.

Distribution: Northeastern South America & some

of the offshore island.
Max. size: Males up to 3.5 cm, females up to 6 cm.
Diet: Dried food, worms, crustaceans, insects,
plant matter.
Compatibility: Community tank, but fancy fishes may
be harassed.
Description:
•Used as a biological control for mosquitoes.
•Males are brilliantly colored fish with very
ornamental finage.
Breeding: Live bearer

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Female

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Name: Discus.
Symphysodon aequifasciatus.

Distribution: Black water Amazonia.

Max. size: Up to 20-25 cm.
Diet: Frozen & live foods.
Sexing:
•Essentially isomorphic.
•In some population (e.g.. Blue) males with more
pronounced vermiform marking on flanks.
Comments:
•The several color varieties-brown, blue & green.
•Fry fish nip-off nutritional mucus from both parents
sides.
Breeding: Eggs laying on a rock or leaf.
Females fans & guards the immediate territory.

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11
Name: Siamese fighting fish.
Betta splendens.

Distribution: Thailand.
Max. size: 6 cm.
Diet: Live food, dried food & flake foods.
Sexing: Females are far less colorful & lack the
enormous fins.
Compatibility: Best kept in a species tank.
Breeding: Bubble nest builders. After all the eggs are
laid remove the females.
Comment:
Siamese fighting fish come in many colors-green, blue,
red, purple, albino,………
Only aggressive towards its own kinds,if 2 males come
together, they fight & one will die.

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Name: Gold fish.
Carassius auratus.

Distribution: Asia: central Asia and China, and Japan.

Introduced throughout the world. Asian form of the
goldfish .Several countries report adverse ecological
impact after introduction.
Max. size: 59.0 cm
Diet: Feed on a wide range of food including plants,
small crustaceans, insects, and detritus.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.
Comment: Pigmentation: Wild-caught specimens, olive brown
, slate olive, olive green, with a bronze sheen, silvery,
grayish yellowish, gray-silver , through gold (often with
black blotches) to creamy white; yellowish white or white
below.

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14
Name: Pearl gourami.
Trichogaster leeri.

Distribution: Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra.

Max. size: Up to 11 cm.
Diet: Worms, dried food, crustaceans, insects.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Description:
They have a filamentous ventral fin.
The body is blue-brown & covered with a dark lace
like pattern.
Sexing: Dorsal fin of the male extend well over
the caudal peduncle & like the anal fin has trailing
filaments.
Breeding: Bubble nest builders.

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Name: Honey gourami.
Colisa sota.

Distribution: northeastern India, Bangladesh.

Max. size: 4.5 cm.
Diet: Readily accept all foods, but prefers live food.
Sexing:
•The oval shape body is golden yellow in the male & light
brown with the female.
•At breeding time the males colors intensity to a brilliant
yellow & he develops a turquoise area beneath the throat,
which extends to cover most of the anal fin.
•The female has a dark longitudinal line along her flanks
Compatibility: Community tank with similar sized fishes.
Breeding: Bubble nest builders.
Comment: The honey gourami is the smallest of the Colisa
genus.

Name: Three spot gourami.

Trichogaster trichopterus.

Habitat: Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra, Borneo.

Max. size: 15 cm.
Diet: Accept all foods, but prefers live foods.
Sexing: Male develops slightly more pointed fins than
female.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Breeding: Bubble nest builder.
Comment:
•There is a black spot in the middle of the body & at
the base of the tail, & the eye makes up the
third spot.
•There is several color variants of this species,
including light blue specimens with no spots or even
gold specimens.

Name: Dwarf gourami.

Colisa lalia.

Distribution: Northern-eastern India. Bangladesh.

Max. size: 5 cm.
Diet: Live food, flake, dried & frozen food.
Sexing:
The plumper females have much less color.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Description:
•The blue-green body has red diagonal stripes.
•Iridescent speckling extend in to red edged fins;
ventral fins are red yellow.
•They often live in one of the top corners of the tank &
prefer a little shade.
Breeding: Bubble nest builders.
After spawning, remove the females to avoid the risk
of bullying.

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Name: Kissing Gourami.
Helostoma temmincki.

Distribution: Southeast Asia.

Max. size: 30 cm.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans, insects, plant matter, dried food.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Sexing: Isomorphic.
Description:
•There are 2 color forms; the natural form is silvery green,
with rows of longitudinal dots.The more normal aquarium form
is totally pink.
•The lips which are almost prehensile.
•The fish grows much larger in the wild than in the domestic
aquarium.
•The fish has the quaint habit of kissing other members of
same species.

Other Gouramy varieties:

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Gouramy-platinum
Name: Paradise fish.
Macropodus opercularis.

Distribution: Korea, China, Vietnam, Taiwan.

Max. size: Up to 90 cm.
Diet: Accept all foods, particularly small live foods.
Sexing:Males can be rather aggressive, females are
slightly smaller & less colorful than males.
Compatibility: They do not mix very well.
Breeding: Bubble nest builders.
Comment:
Several subspecies have evolved or been discovered.
Body coloration is variable.
A typical features of the species is the long extension that
develops on the upper & lower lobes of the caudal fin.

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 Koi fish

(Blue)

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 Knife fish.

Name: Oscar. Albino Oscar.

Astronotus ocellatus.

Distribution: South America.

Max. size: Up to 30-36 cm.
Diet: Omnivorous.
Compatibility: A species tank, very large community
tank with other robust fish of similar size.
Sexing: Isomorphic.
Description:
•Vast difference in adult & young.
•Oscar often become hand-tamed.
•Constantly produce large amount of waste products.
Breeding: Egg laying on flat surface in thousands.

Albino tiger Oscar. Red Oscar.

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Red Oscar.
Tiger Oscar.

Name:Red Pacu.
Piaractus brachypomum.

Distribution: Northern South America.

Max. size: Up to 45 cm.
Diet: Fruit eater, but it is not a vegetarian; pacus will
eat virtually anything that is put into the tank.
Description:
•They are large, laterally compressed fish with a
black back, grey belly & red orange throat.
•Aquarium water should be soft & acidic & kept very
clean.
•Pacus are shoaling fish in their natural habitat.
•A single fish in a pet tank often becomes friendly
towards its owner.

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 Name: Red Piranha.
Serrasalmus nattereri.

Distribution: South America, Amazon.

Max. size: 30 cm.
Diet:Insects, worms, fish & meat.
Compatibility: Species tank.
Comment:
•The heavy body is sharply truncated at the front end,
with the teeth-filled mouth.
•The silver grey body is marked with large dark spot &
the throat, chest & anal fin region is colored bright
red.
•The small dorsal fin is set well back on the body &
long-based anal fin is only separated from the caudal
peduncle.
•The caudal fin is wide with black rear edge.

Name: Red rainbow.

Glossolepis incisus.

Distribution: Asia: Indonesia

Max. size: 12.0 cm SL (male/unsexed);
10.0 cm SL (female).
Diet: Every form of tropical food.
Sexing: Male; red color body, female; yellow color body.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.

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 Tilapia.

Name: Zebra Cichlid.

Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum.

Distribution: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua

Costa Rica.
Max. size: 10 cm.
Diet: Every form of tropical food.
Sexing:
•Adults male display particularly intense black vertical
bands.These are less prominent in female.
•Males invariably possess larger dorsal & anal fins that
usually extend into filaments.
•Compatibility: Community tank.
Breeding:
•Egg depositors.
•Eggs are laid on near-vertical or horizontal surfaces.

Name: Silver dollar.

Distribution:
Max. size:
Diet:
Sexing:
Compatibility:
Description:
Breeding:

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 Name: Black widow, Petticoat fish.
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi.

Distribution: South America.

Max. size: 6 cm.
Diet: Worms, Small crustaceans, insects, dried food.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Description:
•Anal fin & rear of the body jet black.
•2 dark bands across the silver body immediately ahead
of the dorsal fin.
Sexing:
•Females are usually deeper bodied & has rounded body
cavities.
•Males caudal fin may have white spots.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.

Name: Black phantom tetra.

Megalamphodus megalopterus.

Distribution: South America

Max. size: Up to 4.5 cm- may be a little more in the
aquarium.
Diet: Live food, freeze dried brine shrimp,flake food.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Sexing: The male has a pronounced dorsal fin & the anal fin
Is broad & sharply concave; the female has a shorter more
Rounded dorsal fin, reddish anal fin & ventral fins & more
Coloration to the front half of the body.
Description:
•Excellent fish for a peaceful community aquarium
containing fish that are not too large.
•Dense plants or thickest of fine leaved plants such as
Cabomba make the fish feel at home.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.

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 Name: Lemon tetra.
Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis.

Distribution: South America.

Max. size: Up to 4 cm.
Diet: Worms, crustaceans, plant matter, dried food.
Sexing:Female does not have so much black in her fins
& the anal fin may not be quite so concave.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Description: The body color is a delicate lemon color,
which is offset by the stronger yellow & black of the
anal fin & dorsal fin.
Breeding:Breeding is variable according to reports.

Name: Bleeding heart.

Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma.

Distribution: Northern South America: Colombia.

Max. size: Up to 7 cm.
Sexing:The sickle shaped dorsal of the male are is
reddish,
With black rays in front & white edging, & in in good
specimen reaches well over the caudal peduncle. The anal
fin is deeply concave with a bluish white area nearer to the
body, & dark outer margin. Female lacks the large dorsal
fin & the anal fin appears less concave.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Comment: The bleeding heart tetra is larger & deeper
bodied than most tetra.
The distinguishing heart spot is visible on the purple pink
sides.
Diet: Live food, flake & Freeze dried foods.
B di E tt

Name: Neon tetra.

Paracheirdon innesi.
Distribution: Northern South America;Upper Amazon.
Max. size: 4 cm.
Diet: Flake food, along with freeze dried live food.
Sexing: Female Neon is plumper than the male.
Compatibility: Community tank, but not with large fishes.
Description:
•They are among the slimmest tetras & are reendowed
for their color.
•The top of the back is olive green & below this runs an
electric blue lines from the top of the tail through
the eye.
•Below this line is a bright silver belly & behind this is a
bright blood red anal section.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.

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 Congo tetra.

Tetra varieties.

Red eyed tetra.

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Name: Tiger barb.
Barbus tetrazona tetrazona.

Distribution: Sumatra & Borneo.

Max. size: Up to 6 cm.
Diet: Worms, plant matter, dried food, crustaceans.
Compatibility: May be quarrelsome.
Description:
•Very distinct 4 black bands crossing golden brown
body.
•Dorsal & anal fins are black based with red edging.
Sexing: Male is colorful than the female & his snout
is bright red.
Breeding: Egg laying.

Name: Green tiger barb.

Distribution:
Max. size:
Diet:
Sexing:
Compatibility:
Description:
Breeding:

Name: Rosy barb.

Barbus conchonius.

Distribution: Nothern India, Bengal & Assam.

Max. size: Up to 10 cm.
Diet: Live food, freeze dried food, flake foods.
Sexing:
•Males are gold to olive green along the back with
pink flanks, their fins are tinged with & the dorsal
fin has a deep black tip.
•Females are gold to olive green all over, with a very
slight flush of pink on the flanks.
•When the breeding condition the males take on a deep
red colors.
Compatibility: Community tank.
Breeding: Eggs scatters.

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 Name: Zebra danio.
Brachydanio rerio..

Distribution: Eastern India, Bangladesh.

Max. size: Up to 5 cm.
Diet: Freeze dried & frozen foods
Sexing: Males have more fin patterning than female
& extra plumpness of the female.
Description:
Slim body with a blue to olive base color & overlay
Of four bright yellow, horizontal stripes.
Both the anal & caudal fin also have these stripes.
Breeding:Eggs scatters.

References:
1.Peter W. Scott(1987)-Live bearing fishes.
2.David sands(1994)-Guide to tropical Cichlids.
3.Richard Crow & Dave Keeley (1993)-A practical
guide to tropical aquarium fish.
4.Dick Mills(1997)-Tropical aquarium fishes.

Prepared by,
B.K.Kolitha Kamal Jinadasa.
(B.Sc.-Sp.-Fisheries Biology)
2004/06/05.

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