Photo: Toniher, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Freshwater butterflyfish
Pantodon buchholzi
12 cm
Adult size
100 L
Minimum volume
3
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Pantodon
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- small group
In the wild
Overview
Seen from above, this surface fish looks like a butterfly with its large pectoral fins. They camouflage it as a floating dead leaf and, together with the tail fin, power impressive leaps to catch insects or escape a predator. It is the only member of its family.
- Scientific name
- Pantodon buchholzi Peters, 1876
- Classification
- Osteoglossiformes › Pantodontidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
West and Central Africa: Nigeria, Lake Chad, Cameroon, Ogooué and Congo basins, upper Zambezi; reported from Benin and Sierra Leone
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in calm or slow water in creeks, lakes, marshes and oxbows, usually under dense aquatic or overhanging vegetation, and stays at the surface. It breathes air.
Behaviour
Fairly peaceful, but its long fins attract nippers; it eats any fish that fits in its mouth and is often aggressive towards other surface fish. Keep it with African species: Congo tetras, elephantfish, Synodontis, Ctenopoma, small West African cichlids. An insectivore: live and frozen prey, insects. A tightly covered aquarium.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth