Genus · Tetras

Ramirezella

Ramirezella is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Tetras section, recorded from Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. 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
Recorded from
3 countries

About the genus

Ramirezella is a small genus of characins (family Characidae) from northern South America, with the atlas's records spanning Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Like most small tetras in the family, its two species share a compressed, silvery body, a single adipose fin behind the dorsal fin, and a lifestyle built around schooling in small forest streams and blackwater tributaries rather than open river channels -- the general pattern for small Characidae across the Amazon and Orinoco drainages. Beyond that broad picture, published biology specific to Ramirezella is sparse, and the atlas covers just the two described species, R. newboldi and R. pyrophthalma, at a modest adult size of roughly 1.5 in.

The genus is not a fixture of the aquarium trade the way better-known tetra genera are, and detailed care information for either species is not well established. R. pyrophthalma, the Fire-eye Tetra, takes its name from a distinctively red or orange iris, a trait shared by a number of small South American characins and likely its most immediately recognizable field mark. Conservation assessments split evenly between Least Concern and Not Evaluated, consistent with a poorly surveyed genus rather than one known to be in active decline.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 1 Not Evaluated · 1

The 2 species

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

Fernández-Yépez, 1949

1.5 in SL · NE

(Costa, 1994)

Fire-eye Tetra

1.5 in SL · LC

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Ramirezella. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/ramirezella/

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