Common name: Black/White Skirt or Black Widow Tetra

Scientific name: Gymnocorymbus ternetzi

Origin: Rio Paraguay, Rio Guapore, Bolivia

Family: Characidae

Maximum size: 2 inches (5.5 cm)

Care: Easy to care for, peaceful, very hardy(I cycled my tank with them), a schooling fish that should be placed with atleast 4 or more of its kind, great community fish, very robust when it comes to diseases. I haven't had one of mine catch a disease yet and one is over 2 years old! Not a messy fish, creates little waste, enjoys plenty of plants to hide and swim through. Swims mid level, and should live a life of up to 5 years. Minimum tank of 10 gallons or more.

Water quality: Accepts a wide variety of water conditons. Temperature 68-79F, pH 5.8-8.5, will accept slightly soft to hard water.

Feeding: Omnivore, not a picky fish when it comes to food at all. Will accept flakes, pellets, tubifex worms, and frozen foods like blood worms and brine shrimp being a favorite ofcourse.

Sexing : Female white skirts are generally larger than the males and have a rounder body(all my girls have bellies). I find my females have short, rounded fins and the males have slightly longer, more pointed fins.

Breeding: Males will claim a territory that they will guard during spawning periods. Although they are egg scatters they prefer to spawn among fine-leaved plants. The parents should be removed after a sucessful spawn, because they will eat their eggs. Eggs will hatch after approximately one day. The fry may be fed freshly hatched brine shrimp, egg yolk, or finely ground flake foods.


Comments: This species is a color variation of the Black skirt Tetra. A number of long-finned and dyed colours have been produced, therefor giving it a variety of names like blueberry, strawberry, or fruitloop tetra. A wonderful fish for a community or species tank, great for beginners, and easily affordable.

Is known as a Black Skirt/White Skirt in the US as a Black Widow in most of the rest of the world. Many dyed

My 2 year old male who is still alive and was previously dyed blue:


My long finned black skirt tetra:

Here's one of my lovely chaps!



Mod. Edit: This picture shows the normal state of the species. The pictures in SA's post above show the man-made long finned variety.

This post has been edited by Lateral Line: Oct 19 2006, 02:12 PM