Photo: AverageWalrus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lambchop rasbora
Trigonostigma espei
3 cm
Adult size
70 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
4 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Trigonostigma
- Diet
- carnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
Espe's rasbora, or “false harlequin”, looks like T. heteromorpha and T. hengeli. It differs by its orange body (pinkish in T. heteromorpha) and a thinner, hatchet-shaped black patch. Records from Laos are probably misidentifications.
- Scientific name
- Trigonostigma espei (Meinken, 1967)
- Classification
- Cypriniformes › Danionidae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
South-western and south-eastern Thailand and south-western Cambodia (Prek Tuk Sap basin)
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It lives mainly in the calm stretches of forest streams rich in submerged plants, sometimes in water slightly stained by tannins, soft and neutral to slightly acidic, under dim light. It is also found in heavily vegetated pools and marshes.
Behaviour
Very peaceful, ideal in a well-kept community tank; undemanding about water, it lives with most popular small fish (small cyprinids, tetras, livebearers, dwarf cichlids, catfish, loaches). Keep it in a shoal. A micropredator: easy to feed, with small live or frozen prey for condition and colour.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth