1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Males can be aggressive with each other; keep with calm top-level free fish and cover the tank.
This page is Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus, a blackwater fish that needs very soft, acidic water (pH 3-6). The "wrestling halfbeak" sold in shops is Dermogenys, which has its own page.
98 species in our list are a good match.
Males can be aggressive with each other; keep with calm top-level free fish and cover the tank.
Live flies, insects, mosquito larvae and small live foods; hard to wean to dead foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Livebearer · Hard
Livebearer: females give birth to live young.
Keep a trio or more with 1 male per 3 females.
Densely planted, floating cover, soft acidic water, kept lidded.
Stable warm water and abundant live insects.
5-15 fry per brood.
Fry take newly hatched brine shrimp and fruit flies.
A slender halfbeak with a long, toothed lower jaw from peat-swamp and lowland forest streams of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo; females bear live young.
Pieter Bleeker described this halfbeak in 1853. It is a slender surface fish whose males spar with their long jaws.
First described by Pieter Bleeker in 1853. Named for 'Pogonognathus' means bearded jaw.
9 facts checked with sources
Valid name. Common-name clash: FishBase and Seriously Fish give 'wrestling halfbeak' to Dermogenys pusilla (legacy id malayanhalfbeak), not to this species, which is usually sold as long-snout or threadjaw halfbeak. The jaw-locking 'wrestling' in the legacy text belongs to Dermogenys. Check which fish the site means.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (genus Hemirhamphodon)Legacy has no family field. Formerly placed in Hemiramphidae.
FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryNo Seriously Fish profile. FishBase 10 cm SL (male/unsexed); legacy 12 cm is unsupported. SL.
FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryFishBase matches legacy; PFK gives 23-27 for halfbeaks generally.
FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summary · Practical Fishkeeping (Dr Heok Hee Ng, Dec 2009): What conditions do halfbeaks need?Big correction: PFK (Heok Hee Ng, a halfbeak specialist) says this peat-swamp genus needs very soft, acidic water, pH 3.0-6.0. FishBase gives 6.0-8.0, probably generic. Legacy 6-7.5 is too high for the specialist advice.
Practical Fishkeeping (Dr Heok Hee Ng, Dec 2009): What conditions do halfbeaks need? · FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryLegacy has no hardness. PFK 2 GH or less preferred over FishBase 5-12.
Practical Fishkeeping (Dr Heok Hee Ng, Dec 2009): What conditions do halfbeaks need? · FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryLegacy has no range field. IUCN: Least Concern (assessed 10 January 2020, per FishBase). Legacy story's 'blackwater streams of Malaysia and Borneo' is consistent.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (genus Hemirhamphodon) · FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryOnly the live-bearing is confirmed; gestation and brood size were not found. (Some other Hemirhamphodon, e.g. H. tengah, lay eggs.)
FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summaryLegacy says males 'wrestle' by locking jaws: Seriously Fish gives that behaviour and the name to Dermogenys pusilla. Not confirmed for H. pogonognathus.
FishBase: Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus summary · Seriously Fish: Dermogenys pusilla (Wrestling Halfbeak)