Danionella translucida
Danionella translucida. Picture © Gerhard Ott. Flensburg Germany.
Danionella species. Picture © Heng Weh Choy.
Typical habitat of Danionella translucida - Bala Stream in Myanmar. Picture
© Tin Win of Hein Aquarium. The stream is quite close to the capital of
Myanmar - Yangon. Water conditions. Temperature, 26°C, pH 7.2, 60 to 100
ppm CaCO3 hardness.
| Danionella translucida Roberts 1986 |
| Scientific Name: | | Danionella translucida |
| Origin: | | Myanmar |
| Size: | | The Danionella species are reckoned to be the smallest freshwater fishes in
the world. Opinions vary as to the maximum size they grow. 11mm seems to be the
maximum size for a female and 12 mm for a male. They are small! |
| Comments: | | There are just two species of Danionella described: translucida and mirifica
and there are probably another two or three species awaiting scientific study.
Gerhard Ott reports that males are able to make a noise with certain bones and
it is assumed that this is a mechanism for attracting females in muddy water.
The fish are scale less. Eggs, are said to be very few, but are large given the
size of the female. Egg size of between 0.4 and 0.5mm have been recorded. They
may be sexed by looking for eggs in the transparent ovary of the female. These
fish are only very rarely seen in shops. Because of their size, it would be
necessary to keep them in a dedicated aquarium. |