Beckford's Golden Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi)

IUCN Conservation Status: Not Evaluated

Ecology

A member of the characin order, this fish comes from small rivers in southern Guyana all the way to the Amazon Basin and the Negro River! [1] It has also been introduced and established in parts of Brazil. [2] As a small schooling fish, the Golden Pencilfish forms groups with its own kind, and males of this species are territorial towards each other. [1] As a micropredator, this fish eats small crustaceans, worms, and insects. [5] This fish is popular among researchers as it is part of a genus that has interesting genetics. [3]

Fishery

Although not much is published about this fishery, it is believed to be both wild caught and aquacultured. There have been some studies recently on the aquaculture for this species, mostly in South America. [2,4]

In Aquaria

As mentioned above, this fish is a schooling fish and it is recommended to keep this fish in groups of 5 or more (ideally 10 or more) to spread out aggression, but it is peaceful towards other fish species and does well in community tanks. [5] It can be sexed by the anal fin, as males have a curved posterior* edge to their fins, while females have a straight edge. [5] This fish reproduces easily in the aquarium, and it is not a picky eater, making it a good schooling fish for beginner aquarists!

*Posterior: towards the back, rear end

Citations

[1] Planquette, P., P. Keith and P.-Y. Le Bail, 1996. Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 1. Collection du Patrimoine Naturel Volume 22, MNHN, Paris & INRA, Paris. 429 p.

[2] Magalhães, A.L., Brito, M.F., & Sarrouh, B. (2019). An inconvenient routine: introduction, establishment and spread of new non-native fishes in the Paraíba do Sul River basin, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Neotropical Biology and Conservation.

[3] Sember, A., de Oliveira, E.A., Ráb, P., Bertollo, L.A., de Freitas, N.L., Viana, P.F., Yano, C.F., Hatanaka, T., Marinho, M.M., de Moraes, R.L., Feldberg, E., & Cioffi, M.D. (2020). Centric Fusions behind the Karyotype Evolution of Neotropical Nannostomus Pencilfishes (Characiforme, Lebiasinidae): First Insights from a Molecular Cytogenetic Perspective. Genes, 11.

[4] Abe, H.A., Dias, J.A., Sousa, N.D., Couto, M.V., Reis, R.G., Paixão, P.E., & Fujimoto, R.Y. (2019). Growth of Amazon ornamental fish Nannostomus beckfordi larvae (Steindachner, 1876) submitted to different stocking densities and feeding management in captivity conditions. Aquaculture Research.

[5] Mills, D. and G. Vevers, 1989. The Tetra encyclopedia of freshwater tropical aquarium fishes. Tetra Press, New Jersey. 208 p.