Photo: Alexander Prokoshev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Red-striped killifish
Aphyosemion striatum
5 cm
Adult size
20 L
Minimum volume
2
Minimum group
3 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Aphyosemion
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- pair
In the wild
Overview
Described in 1911 by George Albert Boulenger, Aphyosemion striatum (“striped”) is a small African killi whose blue-green male bears lengthwise red streaks on the flanks and caudal peduncle. Aphyosemion means “small fish with a banner”, for the lyre-shaped tail of the males of many species in the genus.
It is a non-annual killi, easy, attractive and fairly long-lived, often recommended for beginners. Note: the name “paradise fish” usually refers to another species, Macropodus opercularis.
- Scientific name
- Aphyosemion striatum (Boulenger, 1911)
- Classification
- Cyprinodontiformes › Nothobranchiidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Southern Equatorial Guinea and northwestern Gabon (Mitémele, Komo and lower Ogooué basins)
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in the Mitémele basin in southern Equatorial Guinea, and in the Mbei, Komo, Abanga and lower Ogooué basins in northwestern Gabon.
It frequents permanent streams, pools and marshes of lowland coastal rainforest, in soft, slightly acidic to neutral water that is rather cool for the tropics (21 to 25 °C).
Behaviour
Very peaceful and fairly shy, it can live in a community aquarium with calm, not too large companions: small tetras, cyprinids, dwarf cichlids, corydoras. The males display and spar with each other without much harm.
It feeds on small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates; live or frozen prey are preferred. It spawns in fine-leaved plants or a spawning mop, often in a trio (one male, two females).
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth