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The black phantom tetra (''Hyphessobrycon megalopterus'') is a freshwater fish of the characin family (family Characidae) of order Characiformes. It is native to the Paraguay, Guaporé, and Mamore river basins in Brazil and Bolivia. This fish is of roughly tetragonal shape, light grey in coloring, with a black patch, surrounded by iridescent silver edging, posterior of the gills on each side. The male's fins are black, as is the female's dorsal fin; the female's pelvic, anal, and adipose fins are reddish in color. A long-finned variety, apparently developed by captive breeders, is sometimes sold (the male has elongated dorsal and anal fins even in the wild form). The black phantom tetra reaches a maximum overall length of approximately . The black phantom tetra's natural diet consist of small crustaceans, insects, and worms. ''H. megalopterus'' is one of the more popular tetras sold in the aquarium trade. ''Megalomphodus megalopterus'' and ''Megalamphodus rogoaguae'' are obsolete synonyms for this species. While it is not particularly colorful, it makes up for this by its display behavior: the males are territorial and defend their space against their neighbors by presenting themselves in profile with the dorsal and anal fins fully extended, and the dark color intensified, making the edging of the body patch stand out prominently. Sometimes they exchange blows which can tear the fins, but this damage heals quickly. Unlike other tetra who prefer to live in large shoals, they will also do fine when kept in a group of four or five individuals, making them suitable for smaller aquaria. There should still be enough space for the males to stake territories and present themselves to best effort, however. == Gender == The male black phantom tetras have longer fins than the females and when in breeding condition, the females become plumper, but the biggest difference is in their color. The males have almost no red, while the smaller fins of the female both on the top and underneath them are red. The adipose fin, on the top of the body behind the larger dorsal fin is much more noticeable in the females than the males, because in females it is red while in the males it is grey. The female's dorsal fin has a more intense black than the male's. When the fish are in breeding condition, the colours of both sexes become more distinct, with the male showing its black fins more obviously. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Black phantom tetra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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