Acnodon normani

15. January 2013

We are able to import this rare and comparably small (up to 13.5 cm standard length without caudal fin), pretty pacu only very occasionally. This is due to the fact that Acnodon represents a type of fish that lives in open waters. This is also obvious from its typical pattern, consisting of thin vertical stripes on a light blue body, which perform an excellent camouflage when the sun shines in natural waters. These fish try to escape in stampede when disturbed. This behaviour makes it very difficult to collect them and the collectors also need a lot of patience and knowledge until the fish have settled down.

When kept in aquaria, these fish need a comparably large tank. Acnodon does not represent a genus of specialized plant eaters. like many other pacus are, but they need nevertheless some plant food (special flakes for example) to stay healthy.

Against tankmates, may they belong to their own or to other species, sheep pacus (this is their common name) are usually peaceful. They need warm (26-30°C), clean and oxygen rich water and love a strong current.

For our customers: the animals have code 202703 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

Lexicon:

Acnodon: from ancient Greek, means “without the projections on a hunting spear”; this name was chosen in the erroneous believe that the type species, A. oligacanthus, lacks the predorsal spine. However, this spine is present in the genus.

normani: dedication name for John Roxbrough Norman (1898-1944).

Common name: sheep pacu

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Angaben zum Tier
Herkunft Brasilien / Brazil
Verfügbare Größe in cm 7-15