Photo: Dirk Godlinski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Forktail blue-eye
Pseudomugil furcatus
6 cm
Adult size
70 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
5 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Pseudomugil
- Diet
- carnivore and planktivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
This small yellow blue-eye, with a forked tail edged in bright yellow, is very popular but comes from a small area; wild fish are not available. It was placed in a separate genus, Popondetta, before returning to Pseudomugil.
- Scientific name
- Pseudomugil furcatus Nichols, 1955
- Classification
- Atheriniformes › Pseudomugilidae
- IUCN Red List
- Data deficient (DD)
Natural habitat
Endemic to the lowlands of eastern Papua New Guinea, between Dyke Ackland Bay and Collingwood Bay
Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in lowland forest streams, heavily vegetated, with a slow to moderate current and clear water. The December-to-March monsoon swells and clouds the streams; in the dry season they may partly dry out: the type specimens came from pools in intermittent streams, with Tateurndina ocellicauda.
Behaviour
Peaceful, it suits selected community tanks, with fish of similar size and temperament: cyprinids, gobies, small rainbowfish, and especially the peacock gudgeon Tateurndina ocellicauda, which lives with it in the wild. In a shoal of at least 8 to 10. Food to match its size, mostly live (Daphnia, Moina, Artemia nauplii, microworms).
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth