Alternative name Melanorivulus rubroreticulatus.

Rivulus rubroreticulatus is described on the basis of material collected in the lower section of the Xingu river drain- age, Brazilian Amazon. It is a member of a group endemic to the region encompassing the southern Amazonas river tributaries and the Parnaíba river basin. The new species is distinguished from other congeners of this group by the presence of broad red bars on the caudal fin in males, bars often interconnected to form reticulations, and short red bars contrasting with intense light blue ground colour on the anal-fin base. It represents the northern-most record for the group, besides being the only species occurring in the Amazon rain forest and possibly is also the smallest one, barely surpassing 25 mm of standard length.

Keeping and breeding is easy but a tight fitting cover on the aquarium is necessary because their ability to jump, even through the smallest opening, is unbelievable.

This species can, if there is enough space for them, be housed in a tank with more than one male and several females. If separated before and brought together again however, they can be very aggressive towards each other and fight to become the dominant fish. The best way to produce numbers of fry is to put a pair or a trio in a small tank of about 10 litres with a small filter in it or with some aeration. On the bottom of the tank place some peat moss or dark gravel and a floating "mop" to give space for laying their eggs. The fish will, if they are fed a rich variety of live food, spawn during their whole adult life and produce daily between 5 to 15 eggs.

The eggs should be collected by hand and stored for about 14 days in a small container. Eggs are 1.6 mm and amber coloured. It is wise to add an anti fungus to the water you store the eggs in, to prevent fungal attacks.

After hatching the young fry can eat fresh artemia nauplii without any problem. It takes 4 to 5 months to raise them to maturity. Often the males far out number females. For some species this can become a major problem for the breeder, as he has to raise many fry to enable distribution of a few pairs to other hobbyists. Recent personal tests found that lower pH levels during the time of hatching gave a higher percentage of females. To achieve this I used some peat moss that I added to the container with the eggs just before they were ready to hatch. This peat moss also is a good way to prevent eggs from being attacked by fungus.

Their lifespan can be up to 3 years in captivity.

Remarks :

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Dorsal 00.0,
Anal 00.0,
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LL scale count (average) 00.0
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Costa W. J. E. M., Pedro F. Amorim & Pedro H. N. Bragança 2014. A new miniature killifish of the genus Melanorivulus (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae) from the Xingu river drainage, Brazilian Amazon. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, 64 (2): 193 – 197.