Photo: Carlos Eduardo Joos, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Celebes rainbowfish
Telmatherina ladigesi
8 cm
Adult size
80 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Telmatherina
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
The Celebes rainbowfish, whose males have yellow fins with black filaments, is now the only species in the genus Marosatherina, but is still cited as Telmatherina in much of the literature. Overfishing for the hobby has led to it being listed as vulnerable; fortunately it is mass-bred.
- Scientific name
- Marosatherina ladigesi (Ahl, 1936)Current valid name; in the hobby: Telmatherina ladigesi
- Classification
- Atheriniformes › Telmatherinidae
- IUCN Red List
- Vulnerable (VU)
Natural habitat
Indonesia: southern Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), Bantimurung area
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives in clear, slow foothill streams and in estuary areas.
Behaviour
Very peaceful and of modest size, it suits many hard-water community tanks: rainbowfish of similar size, livebearers, freshwater gobies, or even brackish water with mollies and halfbeaks. Fairly timid, it feels much better in a shoal of at least 6 to 8. Easy to feed: varied dry, frozen and live foods for good colours. Plants are needed.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth