Arabian toothcarp

Aphanius dispar

Also known as Arabian Killifish

FreshwaterFish

Arabian toothcarp (Aphanius dispar) — (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Care at a glance

Temperature: 59–86°F (15–30°C)
pH: 6.5–7.5
Adult size: 2.8 in (7 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (115 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Very rare
Origin: Northeast Africa
Family: Cyprinodontidae

Overview

Keep the Arabian toothcarp in a group in a spacious tank, as it is an active, shoaling fish that shows its strongest color in numbers. Males display to one another and can squabble, so a larger group spreads out any aggression. Feed a varied diet of live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, daphnia and bloodworms, along with some algae and vegetable matter, since wild fish graze on both animal and plant material. It occupies the middle of the tank and tolerates a very wide temperature range. A tank of 115 liters or larger keeps a group comfortable and stable.

In the wild

This toothcarp comes from coastal and inland waters around the Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula and Northeast Africa, where it lives in springs, streams, estuaries and salt marshes. It is remarkably euryhaline, moving between fresh, brackish and even hypersaline water, though it is kept here in freshwater. Its habitats swing widely in temperature and it copes with anything from about 15 to 30 C. A tank with hardy plants, rockwork and steady, well oxygenated water suits it, with a pH held around 6.5 to 7.5.

Good to know

Aphanius dispar is a small member of the pupfish family Cyprinodontidae, reaching around 7 cm, with silvery, faintly barred flanks. It is famous for its salt tolerance, surviving in water several times saltier than the sea, which has made it a subject of physiology research. It is also used in some regions to control mosquito larvae. Little is documented about its aquarium breeding, but like its relatives it is an egg-scattering spawner that deposits eggs among fine plants rather than burying drought-proof eggs.

Did you know

The Arabian toothcarp can live in water ranging from pure freshwater to brine several times saltier than the ocean, one of the widest salinity tolerances known in any fish. That toughness has seen it introduced to wetlands as a natural check on mosquito larvae.