Most of halfbeaks of the genus Nomorhamphus originate from Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes). Some species, like N. ebrardtii or N. rex, are traded usually as wild collected ones, others, among them N. liemi, are occasionally also available as bred ones. A species that occurs hardly ever in the trade is the Black Halfbeak, Nomorhamphus celebensis. Currently we have some German bred ones in stock.

 

This species is not as colorful as others, but comparatively very peaceful instead. They tolerate as well conspecifics and other species in their tank. During displaying the males of N. celebensis become jet-black.

 

The males stop growing when they have reached a total length of about 6 cm, but the females can grow up to a length of about 10 cm. If one wants to breed these fishes the basic task is to save the offspring; the parents are cannibalistic. One must never separate a gravid female too late; in that case it will often give birth to dead young. And one must never separate a gravid female too early, because these fish are quite lively and need free space for swimming. So, even breeding the "simple" livebearers is quite a tricky thing….

 

For our customers: the fish have code 438802 on our stock list. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

 

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer