Genus · Rainbowfish

Kiunga

Kiunga is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Rainbowfish section, recorded from Papua New Guinea. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 1 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
1 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2 · 2 threatened
Recorded from
Papua New Guinea

About the genus

Kiunga is a genus of blue-eyes, small rainbowfish relatives in the family Pseudomugilidae, named for the town of Kiunga on the Fly River in Papua New Guinea's Western Province - the only country the genus is recorded from in the atlas. At just 1 in, these are among the smallest fish in the rainbowfish group: slender, near-transparent bodied, with the large, luminous blue eye-ring that gives the family its common name, and typically found in clear, still to slow-flowing blackwater habitats such as forest pools and oxbow lagoons.

Both species - the glass blue-eye (Kiunga ballochi) and Bleher's blue-eye (K. bleheri) - are established, if specialist, aquarium fish, prized by nano and blackwater enthusiasts for their delicate colouration and peaceful, shoaling temperament in small, densely planted tanks. That popularity sits alongside real conservation concern - the atlas lists both species as CARES-priority, with one assessed Endangered and the other Critically Endangered - reflecting the vulnerability of Fly River basin habitats, a system long affected by mining-related sediment and water-quality pressure, to any further degradation.

IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered · 1 Endangered · 1CARES 2 on the priority list

The 2 species

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

Allen, 1983

Glass blue-eye, Balloch's blue-eye

1 in SL · EN CARES

Allen, 2004

Bleher's Blue-eye

1 in SL · CR CARES

Explore further

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Kiunga. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/kiunga/

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