1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful but needs a wide shallow tank and a tight lid.
86 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful but needs a wide shallow tank and a tight lid. Only keep with brackish tolerant fish.
Insects, flies, small crustaceans and flakes floating on the surface.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Males have a prominent scaled, tube-shaped gonopodium; females grow considerably larger. The usual claim that males and females are 'left- or right-sided' and must be paired opposite is unproven; keepers report the gonopodium is flexible.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Livebearer · Hard
Livebearer (viviparous). Gestation is about 12 weeks; the young are born fully formed at 4-5 cm and can eat large food at once. Gravid females turn hostile just before giving birth, and premature births are a common problem.
Pair a left- and right-handed fish.
Wide, shallow tank with half-filled depth, brackish water and a lid.
Brackish water, warm temperature and live food.
Wild females carry 1-37 embryos (mean 12); after about 12 weeks' gestation the young are born at about 4.5-5 cm.
Feed baby brine shrimp, flies and chopped insects.
Each eye is split across the middle, with two corneas and two pupils, so it can see above and below the water at once. It lives in tidal mangroves of north-eastern South America, riding the tide into flooded channels to feed on algae, insects and small crabs. Described by Linnaeus in 1758.
Carl Linnaeus described this remarkable fish in 1758. It swims at the surface with its eyes half out of the water, watching above and below at the same time.
First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
16 facts checked with sources
Linnaeus, 1758. The similar A. microlepis (no pale dorsal stripe, more lateral scales) is sometimes sold under the same common name (Seriously Fish).
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: genus Anableps · FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyesLegacy had no family field.
FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyes · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: genus AnablepsFishBase 30 cm TL (total length); Seriously Fish 26 cm SL (standard length), which is about the same fish measured without the tail. Size rule: larger well-sourced figure used. Females grow considerably larger than males (Seriously Fish); FishBase common length 14 cm TL.
FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyes · Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Seriously Fish (preferred for husbandry) 25-31 °C; FishBase 24-28 °C. Legacy 24-29 sits between them.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish) · FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyesLegacy range lies within Seriously Fish's 7.5-9.0.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Legacy had no hardness. Brackish: Seriously Fish recommends specific gravity 1.005-1.015; wild salinity 5-30 ppt.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)150 x 45 cm base x 45 cm height = 303,750 cm³ ≈ 304 L (Seriously Fish's own figure). Surface area matters far more than height; Seriously Fish recommends shallow water about 15 cm deep, so actual water volume is much less.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Legacy said 1.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Peaceful, but will eat much smaller fish; best in a species tank.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)FishBase codes it 'demersal' (it rests on exposed mud at low tide), but in aquaria it is a surface fish.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Seriously Fish rates it Moderate overall but flags 'Needs a very large tank' and says it suits public aquaria more than private ones; legacy 3 (hard) is defensible on space grounds alone.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Legacy 'about' said Central and South America; Central America is wrong for this species. The Central American one is A. dowei (Pacific drainages, Mexico to Nicaragua).
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish) · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: genus AnablepsLegacy said males slimmer and females plumper; the sourced difference is size (females much larger) and the gonopodium. Left/right pairing is aquarium literature lore, not confirmed.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish)Legacy said broods come 'after 6 months'; the sourced gestation is about 12 weeks. Seriously Fish suggests isolating gravid females.
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish) · FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyesLegacy '3-5 large fry per brood after about 6 months' is too low and too slow. The fecundity is wild data from the Amazon estuary; Oliveira et al. also found it breeds all year.
Oliveira, Fontoura & Montag 2011, Neotropical Ichthyology: reproduction of Anableps anableps in the Amazon estuary · Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish) · FishBase: Anableps anableps, Largescale foureyesLegacy 'about' said Central and South America (wrong, see nativeRange) and stated the left/right-handed pairing as fact (disputed, see sexing).
Seriously Fish: Anableps anableps (Four-Eyed Fish) · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: genus Anableps