Amazon & South America

Hydrolycus scomberoides

Vampire-fanged characin that's surprisingly peaceful with fish too big to eat.

Cichla kelberi

A hard-hitting Amazonian predator that rewards patient keepers with bold personality.

Cichla ocellaris

A river predator that grows to nearly three feet and eats anything it can catch.

Cichla orinocensis

A river predator that grows to nearly two feet and eats its tankmates.

Geophagus brasiliensis

Iridescent eartheater with big personality and bigger territorial instincts.

Hemiancistrus pankimpuju

A rugged Peruvian boulder-dweller with a surprising ability to breathe air.

Nannostomus grandis

The largest pencilfish, rarely seen but worth the search.

Nannostomus minimus

Tiny, timid, and barely an inch long. A pencilfish for the dedicated nano keeper.

Thayeria obliqua

The original penguin tetra, now overshadowed by its more common cousin.

Corydoras paleatus

Hardy, armored, and social. A true workhorse of the community tank.

Perrunichthys perruno

A little-known giant catfish from Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo basin.

Corydoras semiaquilus

A long-lived Amazonian bottom-dweller with a surprisingly expressive face.

Brachyplatystoma capapretum

A large Amazonian catfish that lurks in deep river channels far from shore.

Pterygoplichthys scrophus

A hefty Amazonian armored catfish that breathes air when conditions demand it.

Aphyolebias peruensis

A rare Amazonian killifish with an extraordinarily long egg incubation period.

Hyphessobrycon peruvianus

A slender Upper Amazon tetra often misidentified but worth tracking down properly.

Rineloricaria morrowi

A slender Peruvian whiptail catfish that rewards patient keepers with fascinating paternal care.

Corydoras petracinii

A tiny Argentine cory built for rocky currents, rarely if ever seen in the hobby.

Charax condei

A secretive little predator that sneaks into shipments of other characins.

Hemigrammus filamentosus

A slender Brazilian tetra with a filamentous tail fin twist.

Pimelodus pictus

A spotted, whiskered speedster that will eat anything small enough to swallow.

Acestrorhynchus microlepis

A sleek, toothy predator that schools as a juvenile and hunts like a pike.

Acestrorhynchus pantaneiro

A sleek river predator that plays surprisingly well with the right tankmates.

Boulengerella cuvieri

A surface-hunting predator that outgrows almost every home aquarium.

Crenicichla albopunctata

A compact, manageable pike cichlid with serious predator personality.

Crenicichla johanna

A big-mouthed Amazon predator that means business in any large cichlid setup.

Crenicichla lepidota

A torpedo-shaped predator that brings serious personality to a South American biotope.

Crenicichla lugubris

A deceptively pretty juvenile that grows into a large, predatory tank-buster.

Serrasalmus eigenmanni

A sleek Amazon predator that's surprisingly manageable for first-time piranha keepers.

Corydoras axelrodi

A long-lived Colombian cory with variable striping and a surprisingly complex identity.

Chalceus macrolepidotus

A fast-moving, surface-skimming predator with oversized scales and a vivid pink tail.

Serrasalmus humeralis

A fin-eating piranha with a surprisingly low-key reputation for people

Serrasalmus serrulatus

A solitary, fin-biting predator with a famously tangled identity.

Arapaima gigas

A living giant from the Amazon that breathes air like a lung fish.

Serrasalmus piraya

The largest piranha on earth, and legally banned in several countries.

Thoracocharax stellatus

A silvery, deep-keeled jumper that needs a tight-fitting lid and plenty of company.