Moenkhausia pittieri

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Diamond Tetra
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Characiformes Family: Characidae Genus: Moenkhausia Species: M. pittieri
Binomial name
Moenkhausia pittieri (Eigenmann, 1920)

The diamond tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri) is a small freshwater fish of the characin family (family Characidae) of order Characiformes. It is found in and around Lake Valencia in Venezuela, South America. This species exhibits clear sexual dimorphism, with males having much longer dorsal fins than the females. Males also tend to be more brightly coloured, but both sexes are attractive fish and have become popular with aquarists. The dorsal and anal fins are purple and the body is silver. The eye is marked with red above the pupil, and there is a dark band running along the midline of the body. Their common name comes from the bright, iridescent scales along the flanks. Maintenance in aquaria is simple as similar to that of other tetras, although they will not do as well in hard, alkaline water as they do in soft, slightly acidic water filtered through peat (Riehl & Baensch, 1996).

[edit] References

• "Moenkhausia pittieri". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
• Moenkhausia pittieri (TSN 162986). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
• Riehl R. & Baensch H: Aquarium Atlas (vol. 1), Voyageur Press, 1996, ISBN 3-88244-050-3