The ruby tetra (''Axelrodia riesei'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of freshwater fish in the family

Characidae Characidae, the characids, is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish belonging to the order Characiformes. They are found throughout much of Central and South America, including such major waterways as the Amazon and Orinoco Riv ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the Río Meta,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. In nature, it has a natural red colour, but this is somewhat lessened in captivity. Ruby tetras grow up to to long. Named in honor of tropical-fish exporter William Riese, who collected the type specimen.

References

External links

''Axelrodia riesei'' - Ruby tetra
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FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

Ruby Tetra Care ''Axelrodia riesei''
Pristellini Freshwater fish of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Taxa named by Jacques Géry Fish described in 1966 {{Characidae-stub