Pentazona Barb
Encyclopedia
The pentazona barb or fiveband barb is a tropical fish
belonging to the Barb
genus of the minnow family. It is a native of Southeast Asia
, including Cambodia
, Indonesia
, Malaysia, Singapore
, and Vietnam
. They are also referred to as Barbus pentazona.
The fish superficially resembles the tiger barb
, except that there are five black vertical bands on an orange or gold body instead of four bands on the tiger barb. The fish will grow to a maximum length of 2 in (5 cm).
The fish lives natively in calm tropical waters in the lowlands in water
with a 5–6 pH
, a water hardness of 5–12.0 dGH
, and a temperature range of 74–84 °F
(23–29 °C
).
The fish has commercial importance in the aquarium
hobby and is frequently inaccurately referrered to as a tiger barb (Puntius tetrazona).
Pentazona barbs are egg-scatterers that spawn among a course gravel bed in open water. Once spawning
is finished, they will usually eat any of the approximately 200 eggs that they find. It is usually necessary to separate the fish from the eggs after spawning in order to prevent the eggs from being eaten. The eggs will hatch in approximately 1 day.
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
belonging to the Barb
Puntius
Puntius is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. Fishes of this genus are known as the spotted barbs for the predominant pattern, though many have vertical black bands instead. Also, the Spotted Barb proper is one particular species, Puntius binotatus....
genus of the minnow family. It is a native of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, including Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. They are also referred to as Barbus pentazona.
The fish superficially resembles the tiger barb
Tiger barb
The tiger barb or Sumatra barb, is a species of tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Puntius genus of the minnow family. The natural geographic range reportedly extends throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, with unsubstantiated sightings reported in Cambodia...
, except that there are five black vertical bands on an orange or gold body instead of four bands on the tiger barb. The fish will grow to a maximum length of 2 in (5 cm).
The fish lives natively in calm tropical waters in the lowlands in water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
with a 5–6 pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
, a water hardness of 5–12.0 dGH
DGH
Degrees of general hardness is a unit of water hardness, specifically of general hardness.General hardness is a measure of the concentration of metal divalent ions such as calcium and magnesium per volume of water...
, and a temperature range of 74–84 °F
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
(23–29 °C
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
).
The fish has commercial importance in the aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
hobby and is frequently inaccurately referrered to as a tiger barb (Puntius tetrazona).
Pentazona barbs are egg-scatterers that spawn among a course gravel bed in open water. Once spawning
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
is finished, they will usually eat any of the approximately 200 eggs that they find. It is usually necessary to separate the fish from the eggs after spawning in order to prevent the eggs from being eaten. The eggs will hatch in approximately 1 day.