Photo: Petruss, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marbled headstander
Abramites hypselonotus
14 cm
Adult size
140 L
Minimum volume
4
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Abramites
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
The genus Abramites owes its name to its superficial resemblance to the European bream, and hypselonotus means “high-backed”. It is a deep-bodied anostomid with a ventral keel peculiar to the genus, which has only one other species, A. eques, in Colombia.
- Scientific name
- Abramites hypselonotus (Günther, 1868)
- Classification
- Characiformes › Anostomidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Amazon and Orinoco basins, Paraguay-Paraná system
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
A generalist, it lives in the main channels with murky, flowing water as well as in small tributaries and oxbows, and moves into flooded areas during the annual floods.
Behaviour
Keep it in a group in a large aquarium, with sturdy cichlids, characins and catfish: it may nip long fins. Omnivorous, it searches the bottom for larvae, debris and algae; in the aquarium it accepts prepared foods, to be topped up with frozen prey and plant matter.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth