Brycinus longipinnis

Primarily known as long-fin tetra,[1] Brycinus longipinnis is also described as African long-finned tetra among other terms.

Brycinus longipinnis
Brycinus longipinnis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Characiformes
Family:
Alestidae
Genus:
Brycinus
Species:
B. longipinnis
Binomial name
Brycinus longipinnis
Günther, 1864
Synonyms
  • Alestes chaperi Sauvage, 1882
  • Alestes longipinnis Günther, 1864
  • Brycinus longipinnis bagbeensis Géry & Mahnert, 1977
  • Bryconalestes longipinnis chaperi (Sauvage, 1882)
  • Bryconalestes longipinnis longipinnis (Günther, 1864)

Distribution

Brycinus longipinnis is native to the western coastal regions of Africa from The Gambia to Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2] It is found in the upper and lower reaches of big rivers and also in estuarine mixohaline waters. It is the only Brycinus species also to penetrate small rivers and streams.[2]

Description

Brycinus longipinnis will grow to at least five inches (12.5 cm) long although most specimens are smaller than this.[3] The populations in the small streams are smaller fish than those in the big rivers. Although it is essentially a freshwater fish, Brycinus longipinnis will live in brackish estuarine waters.

Diet

Brycinus longipinnis eats a wide range of animal and vegetable matter, including insect larvae, crustaceans and some algae.

In the aquarium it will eat most fish foods including both flakes and pellets without any trouble; it benefits from live or frozen food such as bloodworms, brine shrimp and daphnia.

References
  1. "Brycinus longipinnis". NCBI. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  2. "Brycinus longipinnis". FishBase. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  3. "African Long-Finned Tetra Fact Sheet". Betta Trading. Archived from the original on 2011-11-27. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
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