Genus · Tetras

Aphyocharacidium

Aphyocharacidium is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Tetras section, recorded from Bolivia, Brazil and Guyana. Adult sizes run from 1.5 in to 1.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
1.5 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2 · 1 threatened
Recorded from
3 countries

About the genus

Aphyocharacidium is a genus of small characins in the tetra group, found in the Amazon basin and neighbouring drainages - the atlas records it from Bolivia, Brazil, and Guyana. It is a genuinely tiny genus: atlas species measure only about 1.5 in, placing them among the smallest characins on the site. Like many diminutive Amazonian tetras, they are slender-bodied, translucent-finned fish that shoal over leaf litter and submerged wood in slow, blackwater-influenced streams, feeding on small invertebrates and drifting organic matter.

This is mostly a genus of scientific rather than hobby interest - data are sparse on either species reaching the aquarium trade with any regularity. A. melandetum, the blackline tetra, is the more distinctively marked of the two, with the dark lateral stripe common to many small tetra species; A. bolivianum is essentially undocumented outside taxonomic literature. Conservation status is split between the two atlas species, one Least Concern and one Vulnerable, hinting at localized pressure on at least part of the genus's range even where broader survey data remain thin.

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable · 1 Least Concern · 1

The 2 species

Every Aphyocharacidium recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Géry, 1973

1.5 in SL · LC

(Eigenmann, 1912)

Blackline Tetra

1.5 in SL · VU

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Aphyocharacidium. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/aphyocharacidium/

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