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Nannobrycon eques, Steindachner, 1876

Origin:Southamerica, Amazon river system ,in standing and slowly flowing waters, with densely grown riverbanks. Rio Negro in Venezuela.

Etymology: eques means horse.

Synonyms: Nannostomus eques, Steindachner, 1876. Poecilobrycon auratus, Eigenmann, 1909. Poecilobrycon ocellatus, Eigenmann, 1909. Poecilobrycon eques, Schikirsch, 1954.

First European import:Germany, 1910, Hamburg.

Description:See picture(s).

Care: Nannobrycon eques is best kept in a species tank, or with small gentle companions in a "community" tank. The waterlevel shouldn't be too high, best 30 cm or less. Densely planted sides and some floating plants, in combination with a dark soil, and little light will create a suitable environment for the fish. The water should be slightly acidic(pH around 6) and soft, and slowly flowing. Nannobrycon eques are difficult to feed correctly, especially if competition is present in the tank, since they are slow eaters.

Temperature:22-26 degrees

Feeding: Omnivorous, all food they can master.

Size:Males up to 5 cm, females 5.5 cm.

pH: 5.2-7

Breeding: If Nannobrycon eques is kept as described in the care section, and fed well, the fish are not too difficult to breed. The male will take the initiativ, although this is done in an equally quiet and gentle way as they normally display in an aquarium. The pair will swim at an angle, the male on top, with their snouts touching. The eggs are placed in groups of 3-4 between fine leaved plants, or below larger leaves, usually close to the surface(lowered waterlevel!). Up to 150 large eggs are laid which will hatch in 2-3 days. The fry are easy to raise on artemia nauplii.

Sexual dimorphism: Males are a bit more colorfull, more slender, and smaller than the females.

Prices:Netherlands: 2-3 €

Additional:The fish in the picture has a reddisch lower caudal fin lob, another variant has a black lower lob. Although Hoedeman described the genus Nannobrycon as containing only a single, very variable species, he acknowledged the possibility to distinguish between two subspecies.

Nannobrycon eques has a different coloration pattern during the night, similar to the Nannostomus species.

Picture references:Picture 1: E. Naus

References:

Hoedeman, J. J.(1969): Aquariumvissen encyclopedie 3. Elsevier Nederland B. V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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