The black tetra (''Gymnocorymbus ternetzi''), also known as the black skirt tetra, petticoat tetra, high-fin black skirt tetra, black widow tetra and blackamoor, is a

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 ...

of the

characin Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationshi ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(

Characidae Characidae, the characids or characins is 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 st ...

). It is native to the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters in ...

basin of south-central

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(mainly

Pantanal The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and p ...

region),

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and northeast

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, but there are also populations in the upper Paraná and

Paraíba do Sul River Paraíba (Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

s that likely were introduced.Benine, R.C., Melo, B.F., Castro, R.M.C. & Oliveira, C. (2015): Taxonomic revision and molecular phylogeny of ''Gymnocorymbus'' Eigenmann, 1908 (Teleostei, Characiformes, Characidae). ''Zootaxa, 3956 (1): 1-28.'' It was formerly reported from the Guapore River, but this population is part of '' G. flaviolimai'', which is found throughout the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

basin and was described in 2015. The black tetra is often kept in aquariums. Growing up to in length, the black tetra has a roughly tetragonal body shape and is greyish in colour, fading from near black at the tail to light at the nose. Two prominent, black, vertical bars appear just posterior to the gills. It is easily distinguished from all of its congeners by the presence of a dense field of dark chromatophores spread homogeneously over the posterior one half of the body unlike the lack of such pigmentation in all congeners. The black widow tetra is a schooling fish that feeds on small

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s, and

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

In the aquarium

The black skirt tetra is a common fish that is widely available for purchase. Hobbyists often provide live foods such as

daphnia ''Daphnia'' is a genus of small planktonic crustaceans, in length. ''Daphnia'' are members of the order Anomopoda, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because their saltatory swimming style resembl ...

and

mosquito larvae Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

, and frozen foods like bloodworms. The species reaches sexual maturity at about two years of age. Like most characins, this species spawns by intermittently releasing and fertilizing eggs among plants. It frequently eats its own eggs, so keepers remove the fish after spawning. The lifespan in captivity is 3 to 5 years. The black tetra was also used to make genetically modified fish sold as

GloFish The GloFish is a patented and trademarked brand of genetically engineered fluorescent fish. They have been created from several different species of fish: zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') were the first GloFish available in pet stores, and recently te ...

(fluorescent colored fish).

Similar names

The

black phantom tetra The black phantom tetra (''Hyphessobrycon megalopterus''), or simply phantom tetra, is a small freshwater fish of the characin family (Characidae) of order Characiformes. It is native to the upper Paraguay basin and upper Madeira basin (including ...

(''Hyphessobrycon megalopterus'') is a separate species. The

black neon tetra The black neon tetra (''Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi'') is a freshwater fish of the characin family ( Characidae) of the order Characiformes. It is native to the Paraguay basin of southern Brazil. They are often found in the aquarium trade. ...

(''Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi'') is sometimes also called the black tetra.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Tetra Tetras Fish described in 1895 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger

In the aquarium

Similar names

See also

References