Maleof avery red-backedwild formof theHarlequinRasbora,
Trigonostigmaheteromorpha
.
Anotherwild-caught variant of theHarlequinRasbora,
Trigonostigmaheteromorpha
.
NEWS105
17
T. heteromorpha
is a peaceful shoaling
fish. Therefore, never keep solitary
specimens; keep at least five, preferably
more. Kept in a small shoal, they will
interact with each other, feel at ease and
exhibit their best colours (assuming that
all other parameters are catered for).
When it comes tobreeding,thestrategy is
fascinating. Instead of scattering eggs
among submerged plants, a harlequin
pair will stick their eggs to the underside
of broad leaves. Spawning will occur
either in a community tankor in specially
set upbreedingquarters.Thepair should
be removedafter spawning,since theyare
avideggeaters.At temperatures near the
topendof their range, theeggswill hatch
in24-48hoursand the frywill takeup toa
week to become free-swimming, after
which theywill require the finest foods.
Footnotes
Several colour forms of the harlequin are
available within the trade, the two best-
knownonesbeing theblueand thegold.
A 2012 study by R.A. Collins et al
(published in PLoS ONE, 7(1):e28381)
indicates that the fishwecurrently regard
as
T.heteromorpha
may, in fact,consistofa
number of almost-identical (cryptic)
species. Surprisingly, perhaps, this paper
still refers to the harlequin as
Rasbora
heteromorpha
.
Themarkingsof thiswild-caught specimenare intermediatebetween
Trigonostigmaespei
and
T.hengeli.
