The Flame Tetra also known as the Red Tetra or Tetra of Rio, is a small freshwater fish of the characin family Characidae

Characidae

The Characidae, characids or characins are a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their status as a by and large monophyletic group at family...

 of order Characiformes

Characiformes

The Characiformes are an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, there are a few thousand different species, including the well-known piranha and tetras.-Taxonomy:...

. The species was first introduced as aquarium fish in 1920 by C. Bruening, Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and formally described in 1924 by Dr. George S. Myers

George S. Myers

Dr. George Sprague Myers spent most of his career at Stanford University, where he was one of the leading American ichthyologists of the twentieth century. He served as the editor of Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin as well as president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists...

.

Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 produced a postal stamp with an image of H. flammeus in 1978.

Habits, colouration and sexing

Standard length reaches 2.5 to 4 cm. The rear half of the body is flame red while the area in front of the dorsal fin is silver crossed by two dark vertical bars. All the fins are red except for the pectoral fins, which are colourless.The tip of the anal fin on the male is black, while on the female the fins have less red colouration but darker tips of the pectoral fins.

Geographical distribution

H. flammeus is found in slowly flowing rivers in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, South America. The natural populations are locally endangered and listed in the Brazilian national red list but not in the international IUCN red list. Commercially sold Flame Tetras are bred in captivity since capture and export from Brazil are prohibited.

Aquarium keeping and breeding

H. flammeus should be kept in groups of more than 5 fish in tanks with a volume of 60+ Litres, preferably 600+ mm in length. Its preferred water parameters are: 22-28°C, pH 5.8 - 7.8, dH 5 - 25. The aquarium should contain live plants for hiding and some free water for swimming. Keeping and breeding is easy and the Flame Tetra can be kept in community aquariums. It is generally peaceful.

In the wild, Flame Tetras feed on insect larvae, small crustaceans, plant matter and in some noted cases, tiny strips of chicken. In captivity they will happily feed on dried flake, Daphnia

Daphnia

Daphnia are small, planktonic crustaceans, between 0.2 and 5 mm in length. Daphnia are members of the order Cladocera, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their saltatory swimming style...

, mosquito larvae, and frozen foods.

Breeding

Breeding these fish in captivity is as typical for most of the Tetra

Tetra

thumb|right|250px|Pristella tetra — [[Pristella maxillaris]].thumb|right|250px|Golden Pristella tetra, a [[morph |morph]] of [[Pristella maxillaris]].thumb|right|250px|[[Silvertip tetra]] — Hasemania nana....

 family. They will spawn in both hard and soft water. It is recommended that the parents be removed after spawning as they will eat the eggs.
Flame Tetras scatter about 200-300 adhesive eggs through plants; a large clump of Java moss

Java moss

Java Moss is a moss belonging to the Hypnaceae family. Native to Southeast Asia, it is commonly used in freshwater aquariums. It attaches to rocks, roots, and driftwood...

placed in the aquarium is ideal for this. The eggs hatch relatively quickly, in 24-36 hours, but the fry do not become free-swimming until several days later.

Further references

Géry, J. 1977. Characoids of the World. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., N.J. 672p.

External links

1. H. flammeus at fishbase.org

2. Additional images.

3. Flame tetra fact sheet