Individual Fish Description Page

This page will give a completely detailed profile of the selected fish, from A to Z. The profiled fish will be chosen randomly by Badman, and will come from the complete genre of tropical fish. I will try to up-date the profile on a monthly basis. If you have a specific fish you want profiled please vote for it in the favorite fish poll on the main index page.

Overview:

One of my favorite fish. No other has quite the same look. Sometimes racing around the aquarium and other times remaining motionless but Always hanging around the surface, they will make a fine and interesting addition to any community set up.

Quick stats:

size:	1 1/2 inches
tank:	24 inches
strata:	top
pH:	5.5 to 7.5
Hardness:	soft to hard
temperature:	75o to 82o f

Classification:

Order:	Cypriniformes
Sub-order:	Characoidei
Family:	Gasteropelecidae
Genera:	Carnegiella

Marbled Hatchet

Found mostly in small forest streams in Guyana and the Amazon River basin.

Not your typical fish shape. The belly profile from the small ventral fins to the start of the tail fin is almost a straight line. The Dorsal profile is somewhat convex. The Dorsal fin itself is far back very close to the tail. The Pectoral (side) fins are half as long as the body, turned upward and face back which give them the look of wings. They have no Adipose fins.

The base color of the fish is Silver with hints of Yellow, Green and sometimes Purple. The belly area has three Black or Brown Jagged Diagonal bars which really have no linear shape and can be broken into spots. Near the back (top) a Pale longitudinal stripe runs from the start of the tail to the edge of the gill covers. The back itself is a dark Black or Brown color. The fins are transparent with a slight Golden hue to them.

These Hatchets must be kept in schools of at least six or they seem to decline and have a much shorter lifespan. They are excellent jumpers so make sure you have a tight fitting cover with as few gaps as possible. I have seen movies of whole schools jumping in unison over the surface of the water. They will do well in a community aquarium that has good filtration and a current that runs the length of the tank to simulate a stream. Floating plants as well as driftwood and open areas for swimming are needed. Their diet should ideally consist of live mosquito larvae and fruit flies although the freeze dried kind are also taken. They will also eat the standard flake food. Remember they jump!

Shaded, slow moving or still Black water in Norhtern South America.

No external differences between the sexes are apparent, although the females are generally more rounded in the body and sometimes the eggs can be seen in the body cavity. They have been bred in soft water of about 5 ^o and a pH. around 6.0. The prospective pair should be well conditioned with a diet of Black mosquito larvae and other small Crustaceans. They deposit their eggs on the floating plants and they hatch in about thirty hours. The fry are very small and have to be feed very fine foods like Infusoria, baby brine and crushed flakes.

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Your comments: From: Matt Date:11/10/2000 My fish is still very young and when it is small it likes to stay on the top and as it gets older,bigger,and more familliar with the tank it starts to go deeper and deeper.

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Email: badman2nd@hotmail.com