NEWS112
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The Flame Tetra (
Hyphessobrycon flammeus
) is one of the commonest
fishes in the aquarium trade. It has beenbred in the aquarium for agood
100 years. But only a very few people know that the species is seriously
threatenedwithextinction in thewild.
TheFlameTetra
-survival thankstotheaquariumhobby
byFrankSchäfer
EndangeredSpecies
he first FlameTetraswereexported to
the USA in 1920. Initially these fishes
were
identified
as
Hyphessobrycon
bifasciatus
, theYellowTetra,but in1924 the
American ichthyologist George S. Myers
established that they were a species
previously unknown to science and
described them as
Hyphessobrycon
flammeus.
The specimens used for the
original description were in fact tank-bred
fishes.Itwasn'tuntil20years laterthatMyers
tracked down this species in the field and
foundthat itoccursonly inthevicinityofRio
deJaneiro.Myers found it instreams insmall
areas of woodland,with thewater in these
streamsbeingeitherdeepbrownorclear.
Hyphessobrycon flammeus,
theFlameTetra, female.
T
Rare inmuseums
Strange though itmay seem, this little fish -
the species isoneof the smallest tetras and
grows to only 2.5-3 cm long - is found in
hardly any of themuseums of theworld, at
leastnot in the formofwild-caughtmaterial.
And yet it is one of the commonest
ornamental fishesworldwide,withcountless
millionsofthesecolorful,problem-freetetras
havingbeenbred.Nowadaysmost arebred
in South-East Asia, but there are also
commercial breedersproducing the species
in Europe and the USA. It appears highly
doubtful that any additional wild-caught
Hyphessobrycon flammeus
have found their
way into the international aquarium trade
since those firstexports in1920.
IstheFlameTetraalreadyextinct?
The last scientific records from the region
aroundRiode Janeirodate from1972.Since
thenthespecieshasnotbeenreported from
the area again. But that doesn't mean it is
already extinct. Hans-Georg Evers, a
seasoned traveler in Brazil, experienced
aquarist,and felloweditor (he isChief Editor
ofAmazonas)wrote tomeas follows:”In the
course of some 10 trips during the 1990s I
searched for Flame Tetras in every possible
biotope in the federal stateofRiodeJaneiro.
Theyare inhabitantsofblackwaterpools.But
I found them just one time; Imust check if I
still have any details. I think it was round
about 2000. The species has definitely
become very rare because of habitat
destruction. That applies equally to other
endemics in thatneckof thewoods.Further
south thespecieshasalreadybeen replaced
by
H. reticulatus
and
H. griemi,
which are
colonizing such habitats. Unfortunately
Nannostomus beckfordi
was introduced a
few decades ago, and that too may have
made lifedifficult for theFlameTetra.Further
north, towards Espirito Santo, there are no
swamps, it ismuchdrier there.So toanswer
yourquestion:yes,extremelyendangered.
HelmutStallknechthasmaintainedhisstrain
formore than40years.Otherolderaquarists
have had these fishes just as long. I don't
