The type locality of the samples that Myers described was situated in an shallow lake, Donna Francisquinha, Porto Nacional, Rio Tocatins, Goias (now Estado de Tocantins) Brasil.

Costa produced an major work in wich he describes 9 new species of Plesiolebiasine fishes, among them 4 new species belonging to the genus Pituna. He also provide us with a key to determinate the genera Maratecoara, Papiliolebias, Pituna, Plesiolebias and Stenolebias, all belonging to the superspecies Plesiolebiasini.

This paper makes relationships and differences within the genus Pituna become more clear.

Pituna compacta is distinguished from all congeners by a number of characters as there are: 25-29 scales on sides versus 23 - 24 scales. Marked pectoral fins with 7 - 8 small rows of dark gray spots or bars in males versus unmarked fins. (Remarkebly I noticed in the color description of the new Pituna obliquoseriata the presence of dark 6 - 8 gray spotted or striped pectorals also.) F - type frontal squamation versus D- type.

The genus Pituna has a slightly different way of spawning than Rivulus do and a complete different way than most Annuals do. They spawn abóve the substratum and eggs have no sticky filaments on the cambium (egg-shell). No records of diving in the bottom or plowing against the bottom so far. Eggs are about 1.7 mm in diameter and clear- to amber coloured. The incubation period can take 12 weeks up to 20 weeks. To be sure the eggs are ready to hatch we must check regulary with intervals of, at the most, 2 weeks. If eggs are eyed up (the iris becomes clearly visable) the peat is put in a shallow dish with water to let the fry emerge. You can feed artemia the first day. A day after the fry is swimming I pore the water including the youngsters over into a bigger tank and re-dry the peat for a week or 2 and wet it again.

Members of the genus Pituna love acid water with pH of 4,5 to 6. They can stand bad water quality for a certain time but this will interrupt any spawning activity.

The set- up for the breeding tank needs extra attention to. Pituna can jump like Rivulus do (perhaps not as often) and a good cover is nesessary. Males can be very agressive to each other and kill. It is not recommended to put more than one male in a breeding tank. Putting more females in the breeding tank is advisable due to the constantly sexual driving of the male that can harm the females. Give also a lot of hiding places into the tank, esspecially when it is smaller than 60 liters content. I use for that purpose mops, plants and additional small pvc pipes where females can seek shelter.

Pituna is a nice, but in the hobby seldom seen, fish. Only the real hobbyist will find a way to lay his hand on these beauties and it will take some extra attention to keep them over a longer period of time and to multiply enough of them to distribute the species among other hobbyists.

Max. size SL 39.7 mm.
Dorsal 8-10,
Anal 14-16,
D/A 9.0,
LL scale count: 26-27
Pre- dorsal length to % SL – 78.0 %
Depth to % SL – 25.5 %

Myers, G.S. 1927. An Analisys of the Genera of Neotropical Killifishes allied to Rivulus. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 9 (19): 120.

Costa, W.J.E.M. 2007. Taxonomy of the plesiolebiasine killifish genera Pituna, Plesiolebias and Maratecoara (teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae), with descriptions of nine new species. Zootaxa 1410: 11 - 13. Figs. 6-7.