Freshwater fishes
542 species, each with the water it needs, who it gets along with, and where it comes from. Find one, or browse by family, genus or river.
Pseudacanthicus pitanga
Rio Tocantins, Brazil · rapids
Dark body with red fin edges. Large and aggressive.
Photo: B. Phalan, CC BY 4.0
Panaque armbrusteri
Rio Xingu and Tocantins, Brazil · rapids
A large royal pleco from the Xingu and Tocantins. Needs a very big tank.
Photo: JSutton93, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hypancistrus zebra
Volta Grande of the Rio Xingu, Brazil · rapids
Brazil banned wild export, so Canadian stock is tank-bred. Clean, even stripes where L236 are broken and patchy.
Photo: Birger A, CC BY-SA 3.0
Baryancistrus demantoides
Upper Orinoco and Ventuari, Venezuela · rapids
The hi-fin version, with a tall dorsal. Territorial, and rarely bred.
Photo: Anne Blindheim, CC BY-SA 3.0
Xingu and Tapajós basins, Brazil · rapids
Big white spots on black with white fin edges. Striking, but big and territorial.
Cichlids · AulonocaraCR
Aulonocara baenschi
Lake Malawi: western shore sand-rock zones at Usisya, Nkhomo Reef, Benga, Maleri Is., Chipoka · lake
Predator. Eats any fish that fits in its mouth.
Hard water. Needs hard, alkaline water, like its rift lake.
Leporacanthicus triactis
Orinoco, Venezuela · rapids
Eats snails and holds a cave firmly. Can be rough with smaller plecos.
Unknown origin · rapids
Large white spots on black. A big snail-eater that grows to about 30 cm, so it needs a large tank.
Plecos · HypancistrusRare
Hypancistrus seideli
Rio Xingu, Pará, Brazil · river
Grading is by how much white shows, and the whitest fish sell for the most. Best at 29–30°C with strong flow and protein-heavy food.
Leporacanthicus galaxias
Rio Tocantins and nearby Pará rivers, Brazil · rapids
The vampire pleco. Beautiful, but it gets large and bullies smaller plecos.
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