Gold-spotted halfbeak

Hemirhamphodon chrysopunctatus

Also known as Chrysopunctatus halfbeak

FreshwaterFish

Gold-spotted halfbeak (Hemirhamphodon chrysopunctatus) — no rights reserved · cc0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 4.5–6.5
Adult size: 2.6 in (6.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 14 gal (54 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Top
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Bornean blackwater streams
Family: Zenarchopteridae

Overview

A needle-bodied surface halfbeak flecked with gold, hanging just below the film to watch for prey. Keep it as a small group with more females than males, since males display and jostle at the surface. It is peaceful and belongs with calm, lower-swimming tankmates that leave the top to it, avoiding large, fast or nippy fish. Feed small floating and surface foods: fruit flies, mosquito larvae, small live and frozen insects, daphnia and fine floating dried foods. It is a blackwater fish, so give it a planted, well-covered tank of around 54 liters with soft, acidic, gently flowing water and floating cover.

In the wild

The gold-spotted halfbeak lives in the soft, slow, acidic streams and swamps of Central Kalimantan, Borneo, around Sebangau and the Barito and Mentaya drainages. Keep it warm, about 23 to 27 C, and soft and acidic, around pH 4.5 to 6.5. Driftwood, leaf litter, floating plants and dim light recreate its tannin-stained home; keep the water clean and stable and the surface calm.

Good to know

Hemirhamphodon chrysopunctatus is a halfbeak of the family Zenarchopteridae, reaching about 6 centimeters, its name meaning gold-spotted for the scattering of gold flecks along the body, brightest in males. It is a surface insectivore and a livebearer, and breeding is of moderate difficulty.

Did you know

Rather than releasing one large brood, the female carries and delivers just a few big, well-developed fry at a time, so a single litter can trickle out over the course of several days.