Red-spot silver dollar
Metynnis luna
10 cm
Adult size
400 L
Minimum volume
5
Minimum group
10 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Metynnis
- Diet
- herbivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
Described in 1878 by Edward Drinker Cope, Metynnis luna is one of the fish sold as “silver dollars”, for their round, very flattened body, silvery like a coin. Like the pacus, they are Serrasalmidae, herbivorous cousins of the piranhas.
It reaches about 13 cm without the tail. FishBase notes that it filters phytoplankton with long gill rakers, as well as grazing plants.
- Scientific name
- Metynnis luna Cope, 1878
- Classification
- Characiformes › Serrasalmidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Amazon basin (Brazil, Peru)
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It is native to the Amazon basin, in Brazil and Peru.
Metynnis live in shoals in rivers, lakes and flooded areas rich in vegetation, in warm, soft, slightly acidic water.
Behaviour
Peaceful and gregarious, it must live in a group of at least 5, in a large tank with swimming space. Nervous when kept alone, it calms down in a group and with hiding places.
A herbivore, it devours most aquarium plants: choose robust or artificial plants and a diet rich in plant matter (vegetables, spirulina flakes). It lives well with medium-sized, peaceful fish.