Photo: Brent Tibbatts, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sheep pacu
Acnodon normani
14 cm
Adult size
300 L
Minimum volume
6
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Acnodon
- Diet
- herbivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
Described in 1951 by William Gosline, the sheep pacu is named after the English ichthyologist John Roxborough Norman (1898–1944). It is a Serrasalmidae, the family of pacus and piranhas, not a Characidae: it is also sold as “tiger pacu” for its dark vertical bars.
The genus has three species; A. normani differs from A. setnai, of the Rio Jari, by a deeper body and stiff gill rakers. It reaches nearly 20 cm.
- Scientific name
- Acnodon normani Gosline, 1951
- Classification
- Characiformes › Serrasalmidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Amazon, Xingu and Tocantins basins (Brazil)
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It occurs in the Amazon, Xingu and Tocantins basins in Brazil. In the Rio Sono, a tributary of the Tocantins, it lives in crystal-clear water that crosses a savanna with no riverside forest, alongside other characiforms, current-loving cichlids and loricariids.
The water is tropical (22 to 28 °C), soft to moderately hard and slightly acidic.
Behaviour
Often described as a fruit or plant eater, it also feeds partly on the scales of other fish: in the aquarium it tends to tear scales off larger species while ignoring small ones. It is therefore not recommended for a standard community aquarium.
It can live in a group if there is enough space (a tank of at least 1.5 m). It readily accepts dry and frozen sinking foods. Its captive breeding is not documented; large males have a lobe on the anal fin.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth