1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful, quick schooler; keep eight or more in a planted tank.
393 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful, quick schooler; keep eight or more in a planted tank.
Micro pellets, flakes and frozen or live daphnia and brine shrimp.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Mature females are noticeably deeper-bodied and often grow a little larger than males.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-scatterer · Hard
Egg-scattering free spawner with no parental care; spawn conditioned pairs in a dim tank over mesh, marbles, fine-leaved plants or mops in slightly acidic to neutral water, removing the adults after 48 hours.
Keep a group of 6-8 and condition them with live and frozen foods; choose the fattest female and the most colourful males. A trio (1 male, 2 females) also works.
20-40 L bare tank with a mesh grid or a layer of marbles over the floor, java moss or spawning mops, a gentle sponge filter and water at 24-26 C.
Heavy feeding for 2 weeks, then a cooler (about 2 C) water change and morning sun or a bright light.
No egg count found. Eggs hatch in about 18-28 hours and fry swim free 1-2 days later.
Infusoria then newly hatched brine shrimp.
A rarely seen rasbora (about 6 cm SL) from southern Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, sold as the "head and tail light rasbora" for its pointed head and intense orange to red blotches on the tail base.
Herbert Axelrod described this rasbora in 1976, naming it after rasbora expert Martin Brittan. In 2010 it became the only species in the new genus Kottelatia. It remains a rare and specialist aquarium fish.
First described by Herbert R. Axelrod in 1976. Named for Named after American ichthyologist Martin R. Brittan; genus honours Maurice Kottelat.
15 facts checked with sources
Sole member of Kottelatia (Liao et al. 2009/2010). Keep Rasbora brittani as an other name. Trade name 'head and tail light rasbora'; confused with Rasbora kalbarensis (smaller, pinkish body, blunter head).
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Kottelatia brittani (updated 21 Sep 2026) · Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy has no family. Formerly Cyprinidae.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Kottelatia brittani (updated 21 Sep 2026) · FishBase: Kottelatia brittani summarySeriously Fish 6 cm SL (standard length); FishBase 5 cm TL. Larger figure used. Legacy 4 cm.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittani · FishBase: Kottelatia brittani summaryLegacy 22-26; Seriously Fish 20-26; FishBase 23-26.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittani · FishBase: Kottelatia brittani summaryLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittani · FishBase: Kottelatia brittani summary75 x 30 x 30 cm = 67.5 L ≈ 68 L. Legacy 40 L is too small for a 6 cm SL fish.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy 2 = moderate.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy story calls it a 'Mekong-basin rasbora'; no source supports a Mekong range. Bornean (Kapuas) fish once called brittani are R. kalbarensis.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittani · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Kottelatia brittani (updated 21 Sep 2026)Matches legacy body-shape cue; fin colour as a sex cue not confirmed.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy confirmed.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy '50-100 eggs, hatch in about 24-36 hours': count not confirmed; hatch time a little shorter.
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittaniLegacy said 'Mekong-basin' (wrong) and 'bold black stripe on a silvery body' (not described in the sources checked).
Seriously Fish: Kottelatia brittani