Photo: Juan R. Lascorz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Royal tetra
Inpaichthys kerri
3.5 cm
Adult size
80 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
4 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Inpaichthys
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
The only species in its genus, this royal blue tetra is sold under several names (“blue emperor”, “royal tetra”). It is sometimes confused with the emperor tetra Nematobrycon palmeri, but it has an adipose fin, which Nematobrycon lacks.
- Scientific name
- Inpaichthys kerri Géry & Junk, 1977
- Classification
- Characiformes › Acestrorhamphidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Brazil (Mato Grosso): Rio Aripuanã and upper Rio Madeira basin
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives mainly in forest, in slow tributaries away from the main channels, in water stained brown by tannins and very acidic.
Behaviour
Peaceful, it copes poorly with boisterous or much larger companions. Keep it with small tetras, pencilfish, hatchetfish, Apistogramma, Corydoras and Otocinclus, or with small gouramis, Rasbora and peaceful barbs. Its reputation as a fin nipper is largely undeserved. Keep it in a shoal. Dry food, with regular small live or frozen prey.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth