The Celebes Rainbow, Marosatherina ladigesi, is perhaps still remembered by some readers as Telmatherina ladigesi. The species lives endemically (i.e. – seen worldwide – exclusively there) in cool karst streams in the area around Bantimurung, Maros karst, Sulawesi Selatan; Sulawesi belongs politically to Indonesia, but zoogeographically to the Australian region. In former times the big island was known as Celebes.
Marosatherina ladigesi grows about 5-6 (rarely to 8) cm long around is a peaceful, lively schooling fish, which should be kept in harder, well buffered water. A strong current is ideal. The males develop long extended fin rays in dorsal and anal fins. Each animal – male as well as female – has an individually differently coloured first dorsal fin with a different amount of black. During courtship the males become smoky black. They spawn in fine-grained plants, brood care is not practised by these fish.
A shoal of 10-20 specimens is a wonderful sight that you will not forget so quickly. The animals are a little bit sensitive to moving, but otherwise easy to care. They accept any usual fish food, but prefer to eat from the surface. Plants are not damaged.
The particular sensitivity once attributed to these animals no longer exists today; this may be due to the greatly improved transport conditions. Above all, it is important that the pH value does not fluctuate significantly and that the target range of pH 7.5 to 8.5 is not fallen significantly below, if possible.
For our customers: the animals have code 461204 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
