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Photo thanks to theonetruepath
Photo thanks to Dave Wilson, Aquagreen
Peacock Gudgeon
Tateurndina ocellicauda
General information: It is a small member of the gudgeon family growing to approximately 7 cm. the males have a more pronounced forehead and females a more rounded body. Females sometimes have a black line on the outer margin of the anal fin. In their natural environment there is little known about the water quality of their streams and their natural diet. They are said to school over the substrate near the bottom. They are also reported to dart off into the vegetation at the sides of the streams when disturbed. The original imports into Australia were by Barry Crockford in 1983. All the fish in Australia were progeny of this importation until they were added to the allowable import list after an import risk assessment was completed by Aquagreen. The Aquarium Trade importers started to import hatchery bred specimens from Germany.
Cultivation notes: They are best kept in an aquarium about 60 cm or larger. The water quality can be soft or hard, temp between 22 to 28 deg C, pH from 6 to 8. They will eat a variety of prepared and frozen foods but should have some live foods such as daphnia, black worms or mozzie wrigglers once or twice a week. To breed this fish several pairs are placed in an quarium with plenty of hiding places. Soon a pair will select a spot, lay between 40 and 200 eggs attached to a hard surface where the male will guard the eggs until hatched. the parents can be left with the fry. They are mostly peaceful with very few bad habits. There has been the occasional report of these fish fin nipping smaller tank mates. They prefer the lower to mid water sections in the aquarium.
Distribution: It comes from a series of streams along the Eastern end of Papua New Guinea on the Northern side of the Owen Stanley Range.
Reference: Allen (1991) "Fresh Water Fishes of New Guinea" ANGFA web site Peacock Gudgeon report http://www.angfa.org.au/peacockrpt-final.html
Photo thanks to Dave Wilson, Aquagreen
Photo thanks to Dave Wilson, Aquagreen
Photo thanks to Dave Wilson, Aquagreen
Article thanks to & with permission of Dave Wilson, Aquagreen
Photo thanks to samtheman_12
a (suspected female) Peacock gudgeon
thanks,
sam
Tateurndina ocellicauda are legal imports to Australia as of 20/10/2013:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiv...mport-list.pdf
The IUCN Red List reports Tateurndina ocellicauda as a species which has not yet been assessed at 20/10/2013:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search
It is very important not to release any aquarium specimens into our waterways. Any that are not sold or re-homed/ given away, can often be re-sold to aquarium stores. If they are homed in ponds, care should be taken that they cannot escape in run-off into our waterways. Even if fish are native & local they should not be moved from one waterway to another, as this can transfer disease. If they are not local fish, they can both spread disease and either out-compete or eat local fish, shrimp & plants, causing their demise.
DE