Description of Leporinus Fasciatus

Not all Leporinus carry the distinctive yellow and black stripes seen in the species most fishowners are familiar with. However only the striped varieties Leporinus fasciatus and Leporinus affinis are usually offered for sale. L. affinis has rounded caudal fins and displays nine stripes. L. fasciatus has pointed caudal fins and ten vertical stripes.

The Leporinus will nip at fins, jump out of the aquarium and grow to be as large as 8-12 inches in length. Like the rings of a tree will reveal its age, so will the bands of a Leporinus, but not quite as easily as a tree. This fish will have 5 bands when it is young. When this fish turns one year old, the first band will split into 2. Every 6 months another band will split until the Leporinus has 10 bands at the age of 3 years.

Care should be taken to use a tight fitting cover to prevent the fish from jumping out of the tank. Keep in mind that when fully grown this fish reaches a foot in length, which means it requires a large aquarium (55 gallon or larger).

leporinus fasciatus

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Anostomidae
Subfamily: Anostominae
Genus: Leporinus
Species: L. fasciatus