Genus · Tetras

Odontostilbe

Odontostilbe is a genus with 16 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Tetras section, recorded from Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and 7 more countries. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 2.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
16
Adult sizes
1–2.5 in
IUCN assessed
16 of 16 · 1 threatened
Recorded from
10 countries

About the genus

Odontostilbe is a genus of small South American and Central American tetras in the family Characidae, with atlas records from Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Costa Rica. The 16 species in the atlas are among the smallest characins in the atlas, running roughly 1–2.5 in, and share a slender, laterally compressed, generally silvery body typical of small characid tetras, often with the dark caudal-peduncle or fin markings common across the group. Species occupy small streams and tributaries across a broad swath of the Neotropics, from the Amazon and Orinoco basins north into lower Central America.

Odontostilbe has only a limited presence in the aquarium hobby: a small number of species, such as Odontostilbe dialeptura, occasionally reach specialist tetra keepers as tiny, undemanding shoaling fish for nano or species tanks, but most of the genus is essentially unknown in the trade and documented mainly through taxonomic survey work. The conservation picture is mixed and, for many species, simply unassessed: the atlas tally is split between Not Evaluated and Least Concern, with one Near Threatened and one Vulnerable species, reflecting the patchy survey coverage typical of small-bodied, stream-dwelling Neotropical characins.

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable · 1 Near Threatened · 1 Least Concern · 6 Not Evaluated · 8

The 16 species

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

Chuctaya, Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2018

2 in SL · NE

(Fink & Weitzman, 1974)

Pygmy Tetra, Sardinita

1.5 in SL · NT

Fowler, 1940

1 in SL · NE

Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2006

1.5 in SL · NE

(Fowler, 1945)

1.5 in TL · LC

Cope, 1870

1.5 in TL · LC

Eigenmann, 1907

1 in SL · NE

(Fink & Weitzman, 1974)

Sardinita

2 in SL · VU

Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2006

1.5 in SL · LC

Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2007

1 in SL · NE

Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903

1.5 in SL · LC

Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2006

2 in SL · NE

(Gill, 1858)

2.5 in SL · NE

Géry, 1972

2 in SL · NE

Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2007

1.5 in SL · LC

Chuctaya, Bührnheim & Malabarba, 2018

Weitzman's Odontostilbe

2 in SL · LC

Explore further

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Odontostilbe. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/odontostilbe/

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