Photo: SOK , Sven Kullander, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marbled hatchetfish
Carnegiella strigata
3.5 cm
Adult size
80 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
4 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Carnegiella
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
This marbled hatchetfish, with its keel-shaped belly, owes its genus name to Margaret Carnegie. Very popular, it is not bred commercially: every fish sold is wild-caught, most of them in the Rio Negro basin.
- Scientific name
- Carnegiella strigata (Günther, 1864)
- Classification
- Characiformes › Gasteropelecidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Amazon basin (Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia), Orinoco and coastal rivers of the Guianas
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in the black water of flooded forests (igapó) and forest creeks, under dense overhanging vegetation, in acidic, very soft water stained brown by leaf litter. The level of the Rio Negro can rise by 15 metres there in the rainy season.
Behaviour
Very peaceful and shy, it lives near the surface and leaves fry alone: it is a good companion for dwarf cichlids. A schooling fish, it is kept in a group. It hunts insects and zooplankton at the surface: small live or frozen prey and floating dry food. It jumps: the aquarium must be covered.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth