shapeofthings | Fish! (Reply)

Hypseleotris compressa (Empire gudgeon) and Melanotaenia praecox (Dwarf rainbowfish)

A few weeks ago I discovered some mystery fry in my small fish tank. I'd had some fish in there while I cleaned out the big tank and just hadn't got around to emptying it and putting it away. I was quite surprised when i went to drain the water to find little specks swimming about!

The specks are now about 3-4 weeks old and have grown eyes and bellies and little finlets. Slowly but surely my mystery fry are becoming identifiable and i'm getting rather excited because I'm 90% certain they are Melanotaenia praecox! The Praecox are a Papuan New Ginea rainbowfish - close cousins to Australian rainbows. They are the most recent addition to my tank and (aside from the bristlenose catfish to keep the algae down) the only non-natives. Everything else is native to the local area, so it's quite funky that the exotics from the tropics have spawned!

So in a few months I should have a dozen new Praecox (if they all make it), some to keep and some to give away/sell. Biology is way cool.