Aimara

About

The aimara (Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus), also known as the golden trahira, is one of those fish that reminds you evolution has been at work for a very long time. Native to an impressive sweep of South and Central America, spanning the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná, Magdalena, and São Francisco basins as well as coastal drainages in the Guianas, it naturally inhabits sluggish swamps, slow creeks, and seasonally flooded savannas where oxygen levels can drop very low. To cope with these conditions, the aimara evolved a highly vascularised swim bladder that functions as an accessory breathing organ, and you will regularly see it rising to the surface to gulp air in the aquarium. In the wild, it can even travel short distances overland when seasonal pools begin drying up. It feeds primarily on aquatic invertebrates, with fish making up a smaller portion of the diet. In the aquarium, any tankmate small enough to swallow is at risk, and it is intensely aggressive toward its own kind. Pairings frequently end badly. While it can coexist with similarly sized robust species in a large setup, most keepers find it thrives best as a solitary specimen. Breeding in captivity has not been documented. A confident, interactive fish with a long lifespan and genuine personality.