The flood of newly discovered Badis species does not stop. It is astonishing that 23 new species of these fishes have been scientifically accepted in the last 20 years and only four in the 200 years before! Badis pallidus was only described in 2019; it belongs to the immediate relationship of Badis badis and cannot be distinguished from it without intensive research. The native country of B. pallidus is Bangladesh.
We can now offer German offspring of this pretty little chameleon fish for the first time. Because of the great similarity to Badis badis no great aquaristic career can be predicted for this animal, but who knows? After all, since there are no significant commercial ornamental fish exports from Bangladesh, the opportunity to get this fish in the future should be very rare.
For our customers: the animals have code 368382 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
In the north of India there are two Badis species, which are indistinguishable by color: B. blosyrus and B. assamensis. The only discernible difference that exists is the size of the mouth cleft. It is much larger in B. blosyrus and reaches below the center of the eye margin, whereas in B. assamensis the mouth opening reaches only just to the anterior margin of the eye.
It is problematic that practically always the two species are exported mixed, because they both live in the same region. Whether they are two species at all or “only” two ecotypes is uncertain. We are just completely unable to sort the animals here. To do so, each individual animal would have to be subjected to a thorough examination with a strong magnifying glass. The amount of work required for this is simply not affordable.
Since Badis assamensis is the largest of all Badis species known so far – it reaches a total length of 8-9 cm! – we therefore usually refer to the imports with jumbo fish as B. assamensis. Badis blosyrus remains much smaller, the largest specimen we measured has a total length (i.e. including caudal fin) of 6 cm.
Although we offer Badis assamensis and B. blosyrus on the stocklist, you always have to expect to get a mix of both species for the reasons mentioned above. Both species belong to the most beautiful Badis. If you intend to breed, you must acquire a larger number of animals, feed them vigorously until the females become recognizable by their outwardly curved ventral line (there are no other sex differences), and then put the breeding pairs together under close scrutiny with a magnifying glass. B. assamensis and B. blosyrus are typical cave breeders, with the male guarding the spawn until the young hatch.
For our customers: B. assamensis has code 368304 and B. blosyrus 368123 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The blue perch is a classic among aquarium fish and has been in the hobby for over 100 years. The maximum length of the peaceful animal is 5 cm. Males in courtship display are almost black with sometimes blue shimmering fins, in neutral colouring the animals are reddish brown with vertical black bandages (which can also vanish completely); any colouring between these two extremes is possible depending on the mood, which is why this species is also called chameleon fish.
Badis badis are undemanding as far as water values are concerned. They can be maintained well at room temperature, i.e. without additional heating. The temperature may lie in the range between 18 and 30°C, the fish are very adaptable in this respect. However, they live much longer at lower and fluctuating temperatures.
Plants are not damaged by blue perch and other fish are usually ignored. Only very small ons could be considered as food.
All species of Badis avoid dry food, but are easy to feed with frozen or live food.
For our customers: the animals have code 368003 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
The number of species of chameleon fish has increased drastically in the past years. Until the year 2002 only one genus and ones species with four subspecies were accepted, now there are two genera (Badis and Dario) with 23 species in Badis and 6 in Dario. One of the latest described species is Badis autumnum, which was formally named only in 2015. It is called the „red spotted badis“ in the international trade. Like in all members of the genus Badis the fish can change the coloration very fast, thus the name chameleon fish.
There are three components in the pattern that allows the recognition of the species despite all colour changes: the broad band behind the eyes in combination with the lack of a so-called cleithral spot on the shoulder (present in most other species) and the tail spot that reminds one in a T lying on the side. Additionally the fish displays in most moods a red spot on most scales of the flank that give the fish a pretty attractive coloration. But – this is visible on one of the pictures that accompany this post – fish that are surpressed by a dominant conspecific can even be very pale, almost white. It is very fascinating to observe a tank with Badis and to try to understand the „language of fishes“ spoken in changing coloration.
Moreover, Badis autumnum is a energy saving fish. It originates from the north of India and needs no additional heater most of the year. Only for breeding the temperature should raised to 24-26°C, most of the year 18-22°C are enough and in winter temperatures can be even as low as 14-16°C. All species of chameleon fish avoid dried food, but frozen food is readily accepted and – of course – live food, too. Maximum size of the species is about 6 cm.
For our customers: the animals have code 367952 (md) and 367954 (xlg) on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & Photos: Frank Schäfer
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