The leopard zebra danio is the spotted form of the zebra danio, a quick, hardy schooling fish for a community tank. It is a good first fish.
Did you know
The leopard zebra danio was described as a species of its own, Brachydanio frankei, by Meinken in 1963. For decades the accepted story was that breeders had produced it by selection. It turned out to be a single gene change, a spontaneous mutation of the striped fish.
Caring for the leopard zebra danio
Keep leopard zebra danios in a group of at least five or six, in a tank of 11 gal (41 L) or more. They are fast, constant swimmers that cruise the middle and top of the tank. Give them open swimming space and a current, since they are built for moving water.
They handle cooler water than most tropicals, at 64 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. That makes them one of the few community fish that work in an unheated room. They eat just about anything, including flake, small pellets and live or frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms.
Leopards and striped zebra danios are one species, so they mix without any trouble. A mixed group behaves exactly like a plain one. They are mostly peaceful, but their energy can pester slow or long-finned tank mates.
Leopard zebra danios are egg scatterers that drop their eggs over the bottom and give no parental care. Breeding them is moderately difficult.
Good to know
The leopard zebra danio is now classed within Danio rerio, but many shops still tag it with the old name Brachydanio frankei. Its spots trace to a mutation in connexin41.8, a gap junction protein that pigment cells use to coordinate while the pattern forms. Disrupt that signaling and the stripes fail to line up, leaving spots instead. Watanabe and colleagues identified the gene in EMBO Reports in 2006. The several known leopard alleles give somewhat different patterns. Spotting also varies within a batch, and some fish keep broken stripes along the flank instead of clean spots.
In the wild
The leopard pattern has been reported from wild zebra danio populations. The leopard zebra danios sold in shops are farmed rather than collected.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
The leopard zebra danio is a mostly peaceful, schooling species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Is a leopard zebra danio a different species from the zebra danio?
No. A leopard zebra danio is a variety of the zebra danio, Danio rerio, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.
What size tank does a leopard zebra danio need?
A leopard zebra danio needs at least 11 gal (41 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What does a leopard zebra danio eat?
A leopard zebra danio eats just about anything. Feed it flake and small pellets, with live or frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms.
How big does a leopard zebra danio get?
An adult leopard zebra danio reaches about 2 in (5 cm).
Does a leopard zebra danio need a group?
Yes. A leopard zebra danio is a schooling species and should be kept in a group, not singly.
How does a leopard zebra danio breed?
Leopard zebra danios are egg scatterers that drop their eggs over the bottom. They give the eggs no parental care, and breeding them is moderately difficult.
1.2 in (3 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
1.8 in (4.5 cm)18 gal (70 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
2.4 in (6 cm)18 gal (70 L)61–77°F (16–25°C)
1.5 in (3.7 cm)15 gal (55 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)
1.2 in (3 cm)11 gal (40 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)