The Adonis tetra (''Lepidarchus adonis'') also known as the jellybean tetra, is a very small African fish of the family
Alestidae. It is the
only member of its genus.
Range
''Lepidarchus adonis'' is native to freshwater habitats near the Atlantic coast in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
, and
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
.
Size
The Adonis tetra can reach 2.1 cm long, smaller than the
neon tetra
The neon tetra (''Paracheirodon innesi'') is a Freshwater fish of the characin family (family Characidae) of order Characiformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to blackwater and clearwater streams in the Amazon basin of South Am ...
, and is one of the smallest fish normally kept in aquaria.
Conservation status
The
IUCN red list
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
lists the Adonis tetra as being vulnerable (2010).
There is considerable cause for concern because of the increasing levels of pollution in the waterways it inhabits.
[Mercury pollution in Pra River: http://www.gradualchange.com/showabstract.php?pmid=16243381 ]
References
External links
* http://aquavisie.retry.org/Database/Aquariumfish/Lepidarchus_adonis.html
Adonis Tetra Fact Sheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q366188
Alestidae
Tetras
Freshwater fish of West Africa
Fish described in 1966