The cherry barb (''Puntius titteya'') is a tropical

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

belonging to the family

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

,Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds
''Puntius titteya''.
FishBase. 2011. and introduced populations have become established in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The cherry barb was named ''Puntius titteya'' by

Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900–1976) was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist. Early life and education He was born in Colombo, the son of Paul Edward Pieris and Lady Hilda Obeyesekere Pieris. He had two younger brothers, ...

in 1929.

Synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

include ''Barbus titteya'' and ''Capoeta titteya''. The species is commercially important in the

aquarium trade Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a piscicultural fishkeeping industry, serving as a branch of agriculture. Origins of fishkeeping Fish have ...

and farmed in larger numbers, but it remains threatened by overcollection and habitat loss.

Description

The cherry barb is a small elongated fish with a relatively compressed body. It reaches in length. The female is fawn-colored on top with a slight greenish sheen. Its sides and belly have gleaming silver highlights. It may have a rosy tone on its back and upper sides. A horizontal stripe extends from the tip of the snout through the eye to the base of the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The male has a reddish color, becoming very deep red when breeding, and a more slender body shape. The females have two pinkish color stripes down their sides, also becoming darker when ready to breed. Male Cherry Barb

Habitat

The cherry barb's natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is a heavily shaded, shallow, and calm water body. Its native substrate is

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

y with

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

cover. It comes from a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

climate and prefers water with a pH of 6 to 8, a water hardness ( dH) of 5 to 19, and a temperature range of 73 °F to 81 °F (23 °C to 27 °C).

In the aquarium

The fish is most often kept in community tanks by aquarium hobbyists. The cherry barb is a

schooling A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

fish and is best kept in groups of five or more individuals, though the schools are often less discrete than those of other barbs. Within these schools there will most likely be hierarchy. There should be a ratio of at least two females to one male. The male will constantly harass the females to breed, and if there are multiple females, each can escape the attentions of the male for a time. The average life span is four years, with a maximum around seven years. The tank should have abundant plant material (about two-thirds to three-quarters of the tank), but the fish also needs open space to swim. It tends to hide and will often withdraw under the cover of plants. The younger male is generally peaceful, but a mature male can be aggressive when breeding. Appropriate tankmates include ''

Rasbora ''Rasbora'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are native to freshwater habitats in South and akistan

s ...

'' and similar calm fish.

Breeding

When breeding, the male swims just behind the female, chasing away rival males. The female will spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

200 to 300 eggs and scatter them on plants and on the substrate. It may eat its own eggs and small fry. The eggs hatch in one to two days and the fry are free-swimming after two more days. After five weeks, the hatchlings will be about 1 cm. long and easily identifiable as cherry barbs.

References

{{Taxonbar">from=Q637598 Puntius Barbs (fish) Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka">Barbs_(fish).html" ;"title="Puntius Barbs (fish)">Puntius Barbs (fish) Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka Fish described in 1929