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Herichthys bartoni are quite bland colouration
wise. The base colour is grey/brown with yellow
hues in the unpaired fins and subtle shades of blue
displayed on the body. A horizontal line of dark
blotches from behind the gill plate to the caudal
fin which extend into the lower half of the fish is
displayed in normal colouration. They can look
quite similar to H. labridens, but are easily sepa-
rated by their shape and lack of purple scale-less
blotch behind the base of the pectoral fin. Sexual
dimorphism is weak at a small size; however, after
observing for a while I was able to separate the
Males from Females. My observations concluded
that females appear much rounded than males.
Male fish are elongated. Males will display a larger
wider caudal fin compared to Females and Males
will display a steeper cranial profile.
The one female fish was noticeably displaying a
dominant colour form to the other fish and dis-
playing to a larger heavily built Male. These two
fish separated from the group and would casually
swim together in formation along the bank of the
tank displaying to each other. This was followed
by digging and cleaning of a number of potential
spawning sites. After a day of pair bonding and
pre-spawning, the pair finally chose a spawning
site and started to deposit and fertilize a batch of
100 + eggs. In the wild, pairs will usually spawn on
the side of rocks or caves where they will dig out
in the side of the muddy spring walls. In the
aquarium, we can provide cave structures by us-
ing clay pipes and flower pots.
When they spawn this is where the fish display
their most striking spawning dress sometimes de-
scribed as a “tuxedo”. The top half dramatically
changes to an ice white while the lower half is
Both parents closely protect the free swimming fry
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