1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful surface dweller; needs a tight lid as it can leap out.
303 species in our list are a good match.
Peaceful surface dweller; needs a tight lid as it can leap out. Keep a group with calm tankmates.
Small floating live and frozen foods such as fruit flies, daphnia and bloodworms.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Females are noticeably rounder-bodied than males when full of eggs.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-scatterer (rarely bred) ·
No aquarium breeding has been recorded.
Needs a large group in mature, stable conditions; pairing is hard to control.
Roomy, planted tank with very soft acidic water (pH 5-6.5), subdued light and fine-leaved plants or a spawning mat.
Rain-season style changes: soft cool water changes, a small temperature rise and heavy live feeding.
unknown
Infusoria then brine shrimp nauplii; survival is poor without very clean water.
The most widespread South American hatchetfish, told from its only relative T. securis by a dark spot in the dorsal fin and sold as 'platinum hatchetfish'. Its deep keel holds big pectoral muscles; it feeds almost entirely on insects (99.6% of the diet in one study) and can jump several metres.
Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner described this fish in 1858 from material collected in Brazil, and it was later moved into the genus Thoracocharax. It is one of the largest and most widespread hatchetfishes, found across much of tropical South America. It reaches the hobby occasionally as a wild-caught fish from Amazonian exports.
First described by Rudolf Kner in 1858.
15 facts checked with sources
Valid name. Seriously Fish's common name is 'spotfin hatchetfish' (also traded as 'platinum hatchetfish'). Abe et al. (2013) suggest it may be a species complex. Its only congener T. securis lacks the dark dorsal-fin spot; the two can be confused in the trade, and 'giant hatchetfish' is not the name used by Seriously Fish or FishBase.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Thoracocharax species · FishBase: Thoracocharax stellatus summaryLegacy has no family.
FishBase: Thoracocharax stellatus summaryBoth SL: Seriously Fish 7.0 cm, FishBase 6.7 cm. Legacy 9 cm is too large (total length would be only a little over 7 cm SL).
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatus · FishBase: Thoracocharax stellatus summaryLegacy within Seriously Fish 20-28. FishBase gives no range.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusLegacy 5-7 lies within Seriously Fish 5.0-7.5.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatus120 x 45 cm base x 45 cm height = 243,000 cm³ = 243 L. Legacy 100 L is well below the sourced minimum. Very tight lid needed: it can clear several metres in one jump.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusUpper third rather than right at the surface, unlike Carnegiella.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatus · FishBase: Thoracocharax stellatus summarySeriously Fish rates it Easy (6 of 8), but it needs a large tank and a very tight lid.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusLegacy has no range.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Thoracocharax species · FishBase: Thoracocharax stellatus summary · Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusLegacy says seldom bred; Seriously Fish has no record.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatusLegacy says it is 'the largest hatchetfish commonly traded'; Seriously Fish says Thoracocharax and Gasteropelecus are the largest hatchetfish but Gasteropelecus sternicla is the one most often seen, so that claim is dropped.
Seriously Fish: Thoracocharax stellatus