Striped leporinus

Care at a glance

Overview

The striped leporinus is an active, hardy characin marked with fine dark lines along a gold body. It is social and can be kept alone or in a group in a large tank; like its close relatives it grazes plants and can nip fins, so use tough decor, skip soft plants, and keep it with robust, similarly active tankmates rather than timid ones. It works the lower and middle water, picking at wood and stone. Feed a varied omnivore diet with vegetable matter alongside sinking pellets, wafers, and frozen foods. It reaches about 20 centimeters, so allow around 200 liters or more, and fit a tight lid, since these fish jump.

In the wild

This is one of the most widespread fish of its group, found across the Amazon, Orinoco, and Paraguay basins, in flowing river reaches over wood and stone. Give it an open layout with driftwood, smooth rocks, a sand floor, and moderate to strong, oxygen-rich flow. Keep temperatures around 22 to 28 C and the pH from mildly acidic to neutral, roughly 6 to 7.5.

Good to know

Long known as Leporinus striatus, this fish was moved to the new genus Brevidens in a 2025 revision of the family Anostomidae, which set it up as the single species of the genus. The name Brevidens means short tooth, describing a distinctly small fourth tooth in the lower jaw that sets it apart from true Leporinus. It reaches about 20 centimeters, and aquarium breeding is not recorded.

Did you know

Its new genus name, Brevidens or short tooth, comes from a single tiny fourth tooth in the lower jaw, a small anatomical detail that helped separate this pinstriped fish from the rest of the leporinus.

Common questions

Related species

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  Spotted leporinus

  Leporinus granti

  Freshwater

  7.9 in (20 cm)70 gal (265 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)
• Four-spot headstander

  Pseudanos varii

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• 

  Striped headstander

  Anostomus anostomus

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  7.5 in (19 cm)70 gal (265 L)68–82°F (20–28°C)

• 

  Three-spot headstander

  Pseudanos trimaculatus

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• 

  Saddlespot leporinus

  Leporinus maculatus

  Freshwater

  7.1 in (18 cm)70 gal (265 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Clown-spotted leporinus

  Leporinus nijsseni

  Freshwater

  6.7 in (17 cm)70 gal (265 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)