Unknown Identity Of A Characin/ Cyprinid Fish

[Renzojude]

Greetings fellow enthusiasts! I was hoping you guys could help me identify a recent fish I bought.

This post would be unnecessary if only the shop owners had efficiently labelled their selling tanks but anyway...heres a short description of my latest aquaria resident:

The fish is pelagic, thus its body is stream-lined and is frisky in its movements. It has multiple bands across its silver-hued body and bears a tinge of orange upon the ends of its dorsal finnage. Also to note, the fish has a scissor-shaped caudal fin and the caudal and dorsal fins are noticeably darker than the rest of its body. The fish exhibits signs of a mildly belligerent nature, often chasing other fish and seemingly nipping at their fins, despite the fact that it looks like a docile tetra and no sharp teeth are visible. The fish might be piscivorous, though I could mistake its constant harassing about to be a form of harmless mischief as characteristically displayed by certain anabantids like the three-spot Gourami.

My deepest fears would be realised if it turns out to be a colour morph of the classic buck toothed tetra! I have lost 4 of my neon tetras over the course of a single night. I am starting to feel uneasy about this occupant. Thus, I have resorted to posting this call for help so I could identify the culprit of my tetras' demise (No, they did not jump out of the tank, I've searched around the immediate vicinity, thus, it is highly plausible that a predator was present and their bodies devoured.)

I hope I would be able to receive some answers to this post before I lose more of my community tank's inhabitants to this mysterious felon. Thanks to whomever is reading this and a larger amount of thanks to those who bother to reply ! Cheers!

P.S I have attached two photos of the enigmatic fish to this post for further clarification purposes. Yes, the photography is horrid and some of the physical traits I've mentioned above is impossible to observe through the quality but its the best I could snap with my weak camera and shoddy photo skills, please pardon me.


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[N0body Of The Goat]

Giving you the exact species will not be possible from those photos, but I can give you a decent ballpark, as I used to own something very similar until last February, until I passed the group on to "MartinS"...

Opsarius (formerly Barilius) canarensis or Opsarius sp. "2"

Mine reached ~15cm TL over 18 months, they are opportunist piscivores (although Martin combined the group with ~10 Pearl Danios with no issues, maybe the smaller fish were added to the tank first?). Quite specialised needs in a 5-foot tank that is cool (18-22C, lower is better, holds more oxygen and will reduce their metabolism {hyperactivity, odds of getting hungry enough to try to eat smaller tankmates etc.} and excellent water surface rippling/filtration). They are considered semi-boisterous fish at best, in the same sort of ballpark as Tiger Barbs, but much bigger and much more active!

Would do well i a setup alongside fish like Redline Torpedo Barbs; Ilyodon xantusi/furcidens; Glyptothorax catfish from Thailand (Martin had these); Empire Gudgeon; Blind Cave Tetra; Odessa Barbs (that are adult size). Opsarius are schoalers, I sadly was only able to obtain 4 O. canarensis, but they are becoming more available at shops like Pier Aquatics that do courier delivery. I had a mixed Opsarius species group of 9 (canarensis, dogarsinghi and a smaller species whse name escapes me right now during breakfast.

If you search the forums, especially the video section, you will come across video clips. My avatar was one of their tankmates, Opsarius pulchellus.

Great fish, beautiful colours, very active and very adaptable to water chemistry. Just need the right cooler rheophilic conditions in a big tank with suitably sized tankmates.