YBURZ
collected the first EmperorTetras
in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the
Choco region of Colombia. Unfortunately
we don't know exactly where he made his
collections, as when scientists Stanley H.
W
EITZMAN
and William L. F
INK
were
scientifically describing another species of
emperor tetra in 1970 and tried to obtain
this information, Kyburz was already dead.
But note that his namewill live on for as long
as humans exist,as a further species of tetra,
and one relatively closely related to the
Emperor Tetra, was named
Pseudochalceus
kyburzi
(S
CHULTZ
, 1966) in his honor.
NEWS 115
3
In 1958 William A. K
YBURZ
, an ornamental fish exporter based in Bitaco,
Colombia,discoveredagorgeous tetra,never before seenalive.The specieswas
subsequently identified as
Nematobrycon palmeri
(E
IGENMANN
, 1911). K
YBURZ
exported the species to the United States in 1960 and portrayed it for the first
time in the magazine ”The Aquarium”.He gave it the name Emperor Tetra. And
thus began the victorious progress of this fish all over the world...
Emperor Tetras -
Gorgeous Colombians
by Sarah Nieten
Evergreens
55 years of captive breeding have had little effect on the EmperorTetra - they still look just likewild-caught specimens.
grows to only four to five centimeters long.
And because breeding the Emperor Tetra
doesn't present any major problems either,
the worldwide requirement for the species
can be easily satisfied whenever necessary.
K
The females of Nematobrycon species (here
N.palmeri) can always be easily recognized,as
they lack the prolongation of the central
caudal-fin rays.
Pseudochalceus kyburzi
was named in honor
of the discoverer of the Emperor Tetra. The
species is a particular rarity in the aquarium.
.
Ideal aquarium fishes
So what actually makes for an ideal
aquarium fish? It must look attractive, be
peaceful, remain small, be easy to feed, not
eat aquatic plants, and be easy to maintain.
All attributes that can be applied
unreservedly to the Emperor Tetra, which
Miniature salmon?
The name tetra is widely used in English-
speaking countries for small members of the
family Characidae.It is an abbreviated form of
the scientific genus name Tetragonopterus.The
majority of the species of tetras kept in the
aquariumwere formerly assigned to this genus.
In Germany members of the characin family are
sometimes likewise known as tetras,but more
often by the term Salmler,meaning "little
salmon".The name was invented for themwhen
the first aquarium fishes of the family
Characidae were imported at the end of the
19th century.The name is based on the fact that
very many species have a small,rayless,fatty fin
(the adipose fin) on the caudal peduncle.In the
past an adipose fin of this type was known in
Germany mainly from trout and salmon,i.e.
members of the family Salmonidae (derived
from the Latin word Salmo).
Howmany species?
The genus
Nematobrycon
was erected in
1911 by Carl H.E
IGENMANN
.The type species is
Nematobrycon palmeri,
which E
IGENMANN
described immediately following the
