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Hi, just got back from LFS bought 2 fish, they were the only 2 of the same in the tank.These little guys were in with pencil stripe danios(very tiny) and I think black neon tetras.

Sales said they were not sure what they were?..danios or tetras... the fish are transparent white, small less than 1 inch and there eyes glow baby blue under the light thats what caught my eye.. just fell right for them. didnt look in the fish ID or finder yet..

they are very active too..


Sue

do the fish have an adipose fin (a very small fin just behind the dorsal fin)? If so, they are tetras. Are they slender-bodied? We need a bit more info to be sure of what species they are.

Sue I think the best way to identify those fish would be by providing a photograph.

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Keith

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no tiny fin behind dorsal..and bottom is identical in size.tail is long and rounded.yes they are slender, big black eyes, and under the light of the tank it glows blue like they have eye shadow on..body is white/transparent like I had mentioned but kinda grey/blue tinge to it..very faint though

Im going to look now..and sry no pics yet batteries went earier today..

Sue

have a look at the cyprinid profiles on this website. If you find the fish or something that looks like the fish tell us.

Hi, not sure exactly where you mean ,but I will look and tks

Took some pics having no luck with them staying still and they are dark..tryed to upload with photobucket and somethings just not working there either Im not having much luck at all today
...but Im not letting up yet..will get some pics..

Sue

Zack, didnt find it.. but some look like it danios maybe, some didnt have pics. I was hoping to find them say something about the eyes but no..
Ive taken some closer looks and the mouth is a little upturned and like i said the eys are big and black,kinda like they are too big for the fish..
body is long, slender.
going to try and post the few pics and maybe someone can lighten them or something,see what ive got..

Sue

I think they could be from the rainbow family i think!!
connies blue eyes or maybe popondetta blue eyes..no pics there though, then there was a few other named rainbows with no pics..maybe some other sites will have some pics..anyone know of some? I could do a google search too, maybe something will come up..
back to searching

they love the blood worms..

Sue

blue eyes and rainbows also have an adipose fin, only it is usually larger than their dorsal fin, unlike tetras. See if any of these blue eyes resemble your fish: http://images.google.com/images?q=pseudomugil&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

Actually, Rainbows and Blue Eyes don't have an adipose fin.

What they have instead is two true dorsals. The anterior dorsal is hard rayed, the posterior dorsal is soft rayed.

Take a look at the second photo on this page. The anterior dorsal is small, the posterior dorsal is large and is visibly rayed. This split between the hard rayed and soft rayed dorsal is a feature of several fish Families, including the marine Cardinal Fishes, the Targetfishes (Theraponidae), the Silversides (Atherinidae), the marine Goatfishes (Mullidae), and the Glassfishes (Centropomidae). A degenerate case is the Sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae), whose hard rayed dorsal fin has become a series of spines with no fin membrane connecting them.

Now to the mystery fish!

The mention of intensely blue eyes opens up another possibility to my mind, if the fish possesses a single, unitary dorsal fin. Look up the Killifishes of the Genus Poropanchax, which are known colloquially as 'Lamp Eyes". The original "Lamp Eye" Killie is Poropanchax macrophthalmus (originally listed in the venerable Innes book as Aplocheilichthys macrophthalmus) but there are numerous other species. These fishes are generally small, regarded usually as fairly peaceful, and one striking feature is that ALL members of the Genus have particularly strong iridescence in the eyes.

Do a Google Image search on this Genus until you hit a species that matches yours visually, and I'd say this is likely to be a fruitful avenue to explore.

EDIT : Here is the Fishbase page]http://www.fishbase.org/NomenClature/ScientificNameSearchList.php?crit1_fieldname=SYNONYMS.SynGenus&crit1_fieldtype=CHAR&crit1_operator=EQUAL&crit1_value=Poropanchax&crit2_fieldname=SYNONYMS.SynSpecies&crit2_fieldtype=CHAR&crit2_operator=contains&crit2_value=&group=summary&backstep=-2[/link] for the Genus. Among the more startling images (which reflects the "eye shadow" effect described above) is [link=this one of Poropanchax normanni.

You might also want to look at the Fishbase page for the older Genus name Aplocheilichthys - namely here. The fact that the older name is still in circulation for many species suggests that a revision of this group of fishes is overdue.

This page]http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=8383&genusname=Aplocheilichthys&speciesname=hutereaui[/link] has a nice diagram illustrating the morphology of the Lamp Eyes, to compare with your own fish. As does [link=this page.

Some of these fishes are also listed as Micropanchax, as in the case of this one]http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?ID=8362&what=species[/link], which is Micropanchax johnstoni. Likewise, [link=this fish]http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?StartRow=2&ID=9700&what=species[/link] (and what a stunner it is too!) is listed as Plataplochilus ngaensis, and [link=this one is listed as Lacustricola pumilus.

This lot should provide PLENTY of food for thought.





Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

OMG You are good Calilasseia

Aplocheilichthys Normani - Normans lamp-eyes

Is identical to my 2, I was absolutly stund when I brought up the pic

I cant thank you enough, I did a google search.. yah pic after pic,couldnt pull myself away I was looking for Connies blue eyes and popondetta blue eye rainbow..but the sun was coming up and it was time for bed..

these guys are doing wonderful in my community tank, will have to see just what they like to eat the most, blood worm,tubfix worms and flakes they get right now and like it..

Just found last night here on site that I can have a trial member run for 48 hrs.So Im still working on some pics to let you all see if your interested..

thanks to all who gave me a hand on Id-ing my fish..gonna go take a peak and see how they are all doing.. bye for now

Sue

Glad to be of service.

this page]http://www.killifish.f9.co.uk/Killifish/Killifish%20Website/Ref_Library/Poropanchax/Poro.normani.htm[/link] contains some information about the species. Some more experiences with the fish are recounted [link=here.

Lamp Eyes tend to be small fishes, the vnerable Innes book (still handy 70 years after first publication!) lists the species that is described in that book as Aplocheilichthys macrophthalmus (now known as Poropanchax macophthalmus) as being just 1.25 inches long. They are cited as being generally better community fishes (providing the community is carefully planed around them because of their small size) than the majority of Killies, and they tend to fare best in shoals. Fishbase lists your fish (namely Poropanchax normnni or Aplochilichthys normnni, depending upon which taxonomic name you decide to run with) as a 4.0 cm fish, which makes it one of the aquarium dwarfs, so it won't place large demands on aquarium space, and indeed will probably fare well alongisde other tiny fishes such as Neon Tetras, Ember Tetras (with which it will make a nice contrast), and small Corys such as habrosus or Pandas.

If you ever decide to try and breed them, then live food conditioning of the parents is advisable. They'll take Daphnia, but Bloodworm (other than small first-instar larvae) might be a bit troublesome for them to handle. Juvenile Brine Shrimp, on the other hand, will be an excellent choice of conditioning food. The fish spawns in fine leaved foliage, spawning mops tend to be favoured for this purpose by many breeders, but I suspect Java Moss will prove to be a fine spawning substrate for them too. Fry need infusoria for at least 2 weeks upon account of their tiny size (Liquifry will also help build them up) whereupon they can be migrated to newly hatched Brine Shrimp. One of the commentators on the text page I linked says that once they start spawning, however, they breed like rats, so they're pretty fecund little fishes from all accounts.

You're lucky - Lamp Eyes of any species are about as rare over here (at least in dealerships) as the proverbial rocking horse dollop, and the chances are I'd have to contact the British Killifish Association to lay my hands on some. They are delightful little fishes to look at, and given that the name 'Lamp Eye' describes many of them so well and under the right lighting they look stunning!) I'm surprised that they haven't caught on here much more than they have.

Enjoy your Lamp Eyes, because they are wonderful little fishes. They'll be a source of delight in a planted aquarium with floating plants providing some dappling of the lighting, whereupon you'll see some amazing iridescence effects come into play. They really are little jewels, and I'm not only pleased to have identified your fishes, but pleased that you have such a little beauty in your collection. Just as well there's an ocean between us or I'd be tempted to steal them from you


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hi Thanks so much for the extra info Calil..

In my tank now i have 6 cherry barbs, 5 lemon tetras,3 balloon mollies, and 2 silver dollars, dollars Im worried about.
I do have another 40 to set up, while they are all small am I ok for now, but keep close watch..they have lots of space,trying to place all plants real and remove the silk ones.will have to look into proper lighting as well, this will all come it time thought.
found a snail in my tank and needless to say im not happy going to find out what to do..

bye for now Sue