PENGUIN TETRA

penguin tetra - Thayeria boehlkei

Although not as colourful as their neon tetra cousins, penguin tetra - Thayeria boehlkei, do have an interesting yet unusual 'head raised' resting posture which is exaggerated by the black, hockey stick stripe which follows the lateral line from directly behind the gill plate to the very tip of the lower caudal (tail) fin. Aside from the conspicuous stripe, the penguin tetra is usually an iridescent silver-grey or pale-golden, bronze colour.

Penguin tetra are often confused with the strikingly similar Thayeria obliqua, whose black stripe does not always does not run the entire length of the body, instead it can start from lower tail tip and along the lateral line until is reaches a point vertically to the adipose fin.

Penguin tetra

Native to the small streams and the margins of smaller rivers in the Amazon Basin Amazon and Araguaia river in Peru and Brazil, Penguin tetra are often found hiding among the scatterings of aquatic plants.

Growing to between 2-3 inches in length they make ideal companions within a community aquarium. Like most other schooling tetra species they will display nervous characteristic when kept in low numbers and will need to be in groups of at least 6 for them to feel comfortable and secure. Avoid keeping them with large, or boisterous fish and provide plenty of cover (such as aquatic plants and bogwood) for them to escape to when they feel threatened.

In the aquarium environment that has proven to be quite a robust species. They are adaptable to a wide range of water conditions, although there is some evidence to show that they are particularly sensitive to high Nitrate levels.

To maintain their condition they will be happy in soft to moderately hard water, with a temperature around 72 -80 degrees Fahrenheit. However, they will be at their best a pH around neutral (7.0) na d a dH of between 4-20.

Penguin tetra will be happy taking flake food as their main diet but will also benefit from periodic feeds of bloodworm, daphnia and brine shrimp.

Image credit - By Andrew Gray - Own work; uncropped original posted on flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3411409

For related articles click onto the following links:
HOW TO CARE FOR CONGO TETRA
HOW TO CARE FOR PENGUIN TETRA
NEON TETRA
NEON TETRA DISEASE
PENGUIN TETRA