Pterophyllum scalare
No common name
Collection Details
Event Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Cichlidae (Cichlids)
Pterophyllum
Pterophyllum scalare
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Body compressed and disc-shaped; dorsal and anal spiny rays increasing in length from anterior to posterior part of the fin; first branched rays also very long; body height at anal fin level 1.07 to 1.29 times in SL; body color silvery with dark vertical bars (7 in juveniles, 4 in adults) (Ref. 35237). Striking features: striking shape of body.
Distribution
South America: Amazon River basin, in Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, along the Ucayali, Solimões and Amazon rivers; rivers of Amapá (Brazil), Rio Oyapock in French Guiana; Essequibo River in Guyana.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic.
Biology
Inhabit swamps or flooded grounds where the aquatic and riverine vegetation are dense and the water is either clear or silty. Its color is deeper in clear water (Ref. 35237). One of the most popular of all the tropical aquarium fish. Maximum length 15 cm TL (Ref. 7020). Aquarium keeping: in groups of 5 or more individuals; keep pairs in small tanks for breeding; minimum aquarium size 100 cm (Ref. 51539).
Max length: 10.5 cm TL; max weight: 25 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders). Males court females during the breeding season. Both male and female guard the eggs which are attached to the surface of aquatic vegetation in a nest area (Ref. 46591). During the entire brooding cycle, bonding of the original pair of parents is maintained complete with defence of each partner against aggression or potential rivals (Ref. 46591).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2020-11-20. Resilience: High (tm<1).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: highly commercial; aquarium: highly commercial.
References
Aliño, P.M., L.T. McManus, J.W. McManus, C. Nañola, M.D. Fortes, G.C. Trono and G.S. Jacinto (1993) Initial parameter estimations of a coral reef flat ecosystem in Bolinao, Pangasinan, Northwestern Philippines. p. 252-258. In D. Pauly and V. Christensen (eds.) Trophic models of aquatic ecosystems. ICLARM Conf. Proc. 26.
Keith, P., P.-Y. Le Bail and P. Planquette (2000) Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 2, Fascicule I: Batrachoidiformes, Mugiliformes, Beloniformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Synbranchiformes, Perciformes, Pleuronectiformes, Tetraodontiformes. Collection Patrimoines Naturels 43(I): 286p. Paris: Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.
Kullander, S.O. (2003) Cichlidae (Cichlids). p. 605-654. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Anonymous (2001) Angelfish. http://www.ochiai.com/aqua/angelfish_e.html
Yamamoto, M.E., S. Chellappa, M.S.R.F. Cacho and F.A. Huntingford (1999) Mate guarding in an Amazonian cichlid, Pterophyllum scalare. J. Fish Biol. 55(4):888-891.
Oliveira, M.S.B., L.M.A. Silva, L. Prestes and M. Tavares-Dias (2020) Length-weight relationship and condition factor for twelve fish species from the Igarape Fortaleza basin, a small tributary of the Amazonas estuary. Acta Amazonica 50:8-11. DOI: 10.1590/1809-4392201900702
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