Last weekend at the Southwest Area Killifish Event (SAKE) I came home with several bags of new fish. Over the next several weeks, I’ll let you get familiar with these different species.
By the way, a killifish name is an Anglicization of killifische, and basically means ditch fish, as many of them are found in temporary water. That leads an interesting discussion about short-lived annual fish, but I’ll leave it for another day.
Pachypanchax playfairii is not an annual fish. It is a freshwater native of the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
The male has the distinction of scales that stand up, as if the fish were suffering from dropsy, but it’s perfectly normal for this species.
In the photo, the female (identified in part by the black spot on the dorsal fin) is near the glass, the male near the cave entrance.
These fish do well in an aquarium but can be a little grumpy, especially males with other males of their species. They are active little fish that get to about 4 inches long, will lay eggs in plants or a spawning mop.
While this is the third time I have kept P. playfiarii, I have not yet been able to breed this fish. My P. playfairii have been hit with bad luck over the past couple of years, so I’m hoping for better results with this pair.
