Gymnocorymbus ternetzi (*)
Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Otomorpha
Subcohors: Ostariophysi
Sectio: Otophysa
Ordo: Characiformes
Familia: Characidae
Subfamilia: Stethaprioninae
Genus: Gymnocorymbus
Species: Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
Name
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi (Boulenger, 1895)
Lectotype: BMNH 1885.5.17.163.
Paralectotype: BMNH 1895.5.17.164-167 (4).
Type locality: Descalvados, Mato Grosso, Rio Paraguay, 16°46’S, 57°44’W, Brazil.
Etymology: in honor of ichthyologist and naturalist Carl Ternetz (1870–1928), who “formed” the collection that contained type. The ETYFish Project.
Synonymy
Tetragonopterus ternetzi Boulenger, 1895
References
Boulenger, G.A. 1895. [Abstract of a report on a large collection of fishes formed by Dr. C. Ternetz in Matto Grosso and Paraguay, with descriptions of new species.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1895(3): 523–529. BHL Reference page.
Links
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Vernacular names
azərbaycanca: Qara tetra
Deutsch: Trauermantelsalmer
English: Black tetra
suomi: Mustatetra
magyar: Fekete tetra
Nederlands: Zwarte tetra
norsk: Svart tetra
polski: Żałobniczka
português: Tetra-preto
slovenčina: Tetra čierna
српски / srpski: Црна тетра
svenska: Sorgmanteltetra
The black tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi), also known as the black skirt tetra, petticoat tetra, high-fin black skirt tetra, black widow tetra and blackamoor, is a freshwater fish of the characin family (Characidae).
It is native to the Paraguay River basin of south-central Brazil (mainly Pantanal region), Paraguay and northeast Argentina, but there are also populations in the upper Paraná and Paraíba do Sul Rivers that likely were introduced.[1] It was formerly reported from the Guapore River, but this population is part of G. flaviolimai, which is found throughout the Madeira River basin and was described in 2015.[1] The black tetra is often kept in aquariums.[2]
Growing up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in length,[3] the black tetra has a roughly tetragonal body shape and is greyish in colour, fading from near black at the tail to light at the nose. Two prominent, black, vertical bars appear just posterior to the gills.[1] It is easily distinguished from all of its congeners by the presence of a dense field of dark chromatophores spread homogeneously over the posterior one half of the body unlike the lack of such pigmentation in all congeners.[4]
The black widow tetra is a shoaling fish that feeds on small crustaceans, insects, and worms.[3]
In the aquarium
Black tetras of the leucistic aquarium variant
The black skirt tetra is a common fish that is widely available for purchase.
Hobbyists often provide live foods such as Daphnia and mosquito larvae, and frozen foods like bloodworms.[citation needed]
In a home aquarium
The species reaches sexual maturity at about two years of age. Like most characins, this species spawns by intermittently releasing and fertilizing eggs among plants. It frequently eats its own eggs, so keepers remove the fish after spawning.
The lifespan in captivity is 3 to 5 years.
A green Glofish tetra
The black tetra was also used to make genetically modified fish sold as GloFish (fluorescent colored fish), available in a wide variety of colors.
Similar names
The black phantom tetra (Hyphessobrycon megalopterus) is a separate species. The black neon tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) is sometimes also called the black tetra.
See also
List of freshwater aquarium fish species
References
Benine, R.C., Melo, B.F., Castro, R.M.C. & Oliveira, C. (2015): Taxonomic revision and molecular phylogeny of Gymnocorymbus Eigenmann, 1908 (Teleostei, Characiformes, Characidae). Zootaxa, 3956 (1): 1-28.
Innes, W. T. Exotic Aquarium Fishes. T.H.F. Publications, Inc. 1979.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2017). "Gymnocorymbus ternetzi" in FishBase. January 2017 version.
Benine, Ricardo C.; Melo, Bruno F.; Castro, Ricardo M. C.; Oliveira, Claudio (2015). "Taxonomic revision and molecular phylogeny of Gymnocorymbus Eigenmann, 1908 (Teleostei, Characiformes, Characidae)". Zootaxa. 3956 (1): 1–28. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3956.1.1. PMID 26248902 – via ResearchGate.
"Gymnocorymbus ternetzi". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 December 2004.
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