Bony fish · Characiformes · Characidae

Neon Tetra

Paracheirodon innesi

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The neon tetra is a characid ray-finned fish native to western South America. It is a species much prized in the aquarium trade. Valued for their peaceable nature, their striking colours and the way they move in a shoal, they bring movement and life to any aquarium.

Size

up to 4 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

School

Gathers in coordinated schools, typical of fish.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterOmnivore Diurnal In schools Fish Freshwater

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Fun facts

Its blue stripe is not a pigment but a structure: reflective cells holding plates of guanine crystals that split the light, and the fish can change their angle, so the colour fades at night or when it is unwell.
In the gloom of the blackwater streams that stripe works as a recognition signal that holds the shoal together.
It is one of the most heavily traded ornamental fish on the planet, today bred almost entirely on farms in South-East Asia.
It does not occur in the white-water rivers of Andean origin, only in black or clear waters stained by the humic acids of leaf litter.
Its bright blue stripe may be a defence: in black water it is barely visible except from one particular angle, and it casts reflections on the underside of the surface that would confuse predators.
It is one of the best-selling aquarium fish in the world, at close to two million individuals a month in the United States alone.
In darkness or at rest the colours fade strikingly, because the reflective plates in its cells change state.