Sembra rainbowfish

Melanotaenia sembrae

Also known as Sembra Creek rainbowfish

FreshwaterFish

Sembra rainbowfish (Melanotaenia sembrae) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–84°F (24–29°C)
pH: 6.8–8.0
Adult size: 4.6 in (11.7 cm)
Minimum tank: 42 gal (160 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Bird's Head Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia
Family: Melanotaeniidae

Overview

Another vigorous Bird's Head rainbowfish for a roomy midwater community, kept in a school of six or more with clean, well-moving water. It is peaceful and does best with other robust, calm fish of similar size. Feed it well on a base of flake and granules plus frozen bloodworm, daphnia, and brine shrimp, with some green food. A group needs a tank of at least 160 liters with swimming length, and since it comes from a single drainage, breeding what you keep helps keep it in the hobby.

In the wild

The Sembra rainbowfish comes from the Sembra River near Teminabuan on the Bird's Head Peninsula, clear water fed by limestone karst and carrying dissolved minerals. Match that with neutral to alkaline, moderately hard water at a pH of 6.8 to 8.0 and 24 to 29 degrees Celsius. Give it steady flow, a sandy bottom, plants around the edges, and open midwater to swim.

Good to know

Melanotaenia sembrae, family Melanotaeniidae, was described by Kadarusman, Carman, and Pouyaud in 2015 as one of eight new rainbowfishes from the Bird's Head Region, and it reaches about 11.7 centimeters. Displaying males wash blue over brassy flanks. Breeding is of medium difficulty, in the standard rainbowfish pattern of daily egg-scattering onto plants or mops.

Did you know

It was one of eight rainbowfishes described together in a single 2015 study of the Bird's Head Peninsula, whose maze of isolated karst creeks has produced a remarkable number of closely related species.