Celebes halfbeak

Care at a glance

Overview

The Celebes halfbeak is a surface fish that needs cool, clean, well-oxygenated water and a group with several females for each male. It is mostly peaceful but males can spar, and it is easily startled, so give it a covered tank with floating plants and taller wood to break sight lines near the top. This is a predator at heart, taking small insects, insect larvae and other meaty foods from the surface, so feed frozen and live foods and wean it onto a good livebearer flake if it will accept one. It prefers cooler water than most tropical fish. A tank of 150 liters or larger with a tight lid gives a group space and keeps these jumpers safely inside.

In the wild

Nomorhamphus liemi is found only on the island of Sulawesi, in shady hill streams and creeks that flow cool and clear over gravel. To copy that home, keep the water on the cooler side, between 20 and 25 C, with a pH from about 6 to 7.5 and moderate flow. A tight-fitting lid is essential because these fish hug the surface and jump. Floating plants, some open surface and gentle current will help them settle and feel secure.

Good to know

The Celebes halfbeak belongs to the halfbeak family Zenarchopteridae, named for the long lower jaw that extends well past the upper. Adults reach about 9 cm. Rather than a poeciliid gonopodium, the male has an andropodium, a modified anal fin he uses to fertilize the female internally, and she carries the young until they are born fully formed. Broods are small and the fry demand fine live food, so it is not an easy fish to breed and raise.

Did you know

Males carry a fleshy, often black-tipped lobe on the lower beak, and they use these beaks in brief pushing contests as they compete for females at the surface.

Related species

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  Celebes halfbeak

  Nomorhamphus ebrardtii

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Wrestling halfbeak

  Dermogenys pusilla

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• 

  Forest halfbeak

  Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus

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  African butterflyfish

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  Flameback cichlid

  Pundamilia nyererei

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  Knight goby

  Stigmatogobius sadanundio

  3.5 in (9 cm)21 gal (80 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)