New Species of Peruvian tetra
A new species of tetra was imported from Peru, late last year. It has recently been named informally by members of the hobby in Asia as Hyphessobrycon sp.” super red line”.
Leading ichthyologists are in agreement this is a currently an undescribed Characin and further work will be needed before formal description can take place.
Although most would agree that the species falls into the genus Hyphessobrycon, the non-monophyletic nature of both Hemigrammus and the former could result in a taxonomic re-shuffle in the future.
The Red Laser tetra, as it has been coined in the English trade, is an excellent community fish, adapting well to captive conditions.
According to importer’s lists, who labelled the fish under the misnomer Hemigrammus coeruleus, a superficially similar-looking species, the collection region lies somewhere in the Itaya river, a section of the Upper Amazon from which many popular aquarium subjects hail such as various Apistogramma and Corydoras.
Unfortunately for us, the truth of locations is often warped by exporters in order to keep fishing spots secret, as the collection of wild fish is a lucrative business indeed.
Reaching only 5cm, take care not to confuse the rare Red laser tetra with the more common Glowlight tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus). Hopefully as and when more research is conducted on this gem of a fish, we will be able to keep you up to date with scientific advancements.
Image copyright Max Pedley*
*The author retains all image rights. The picture may not be used without permission from the author.
