Marbled Hatchetfish (Carnegiella strigata) Care Guide
A small surface-dwelling fish with a distinctive deep, laterally compressed body shaped like a hatchet.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Carnegiella strigata is a species in the family Gasteropelecidae. A small surface-dwelling fish with a distinctive deep, laterally compressed body shaped like a hatchet. Known for its ability to leap from the water and glide short distances using its large pectoral fins. Marbled brown and cream pattern provides camouflage among floating plants.
Taxonomy
- Family: Gasteropelecidae
- Genus: Carnegiella
- Scientific name: Carnegiella strigata
- Other names: Marbled Hatchet
- Origin: South America, Amazon Basin
Habitat
Native to the Amazon basin and the Guianas. Inhabits slow forest streams and floodplain pools, occupying the uppermost water layer beneath overhanging vegetation. The deeply keeled chest houses enlarged pectoral muscles used to leap and glide above the surface to escape predators.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 60 L
- Temperature: 24-28 °C
- pH: 5-7
- GH: 2-12 °dGH
- Water flow: low
- Adult size: 3-5 cm
- Lifespan: 2-5 years
- Recommended group size: ≥ 6
- Difficulty: intermediate
Diet
Classified as omnivore. Recommended feeding frequency: 2x daily. In captivity, offer a varied diet appropriate to the species — quality prepared foods supplemented with frozen or live items of suitable size.
Compatibility
- Temperament: peaceful
- Swimming level: top
- Compatible tank mates: Neon Tetra, Corydoras, Harlequin Rasbora, Cardinal Tetra, Ember Tetra
- Avoid with: Oscar, Large Cichlids, Aggressive Fish
Breeding
- Breeding strategy: egg-scatterer
- Breeding difficulty: advanced
Marbled Hatchetfish Breeding Guide
Overview
The marbled hatchetfish, Carnegiella strigata, is a blackwater surface fish that is rarely bred in the aquarium. It is not produced on a commercial basis, and almost all fish offered for sale are collected from the wild, so reliable captive-breeding accounts are scarce. The notes below summarise what the sources actually record.
Sexing
There is little reliable external difference between the sexes. Some specimens grow larger and become rounder-bodied than others, and these are presumed to be adult females; females also tend to have larger abdomens than males. Visual sexing therefore remains uncertain.
Breeding Setup
Any attempt should reproduce the species' natural blackwater conditions: soft, acidic water of low conductivity, stained brown by humic substances, with overhanging and floating vegetation at the surface. Reported maintenance parameters are 20-28 degrees C, pH 4.0-7.0 and hardness 18-179 ppm; the lower, softer, more acidic part of this range matches the blackwater habitat.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
In the wild the species moves upstream into tributaries and the flooded forest to feed and spawn during the rainy season, indicating that softer, fluctuating water associated with seasonal floods accompanies reproduction. Females lay eggs that fall to the streambed or into vegetation rather than being guarded.
Egg & Fry Care
The eggs are non-adhesive scatter eggs that drop among plants or to the bottom. They hatch within about 36 hours at 25 degrees C. Beyond this, documented fry-rearing detail is not available for this species.
Common Challenges
The principal challenge is that aquarium breeding is essentially unrecorded, so there is no proven protocol to follow. The fish is small, timid and gregarious, best kept in groups of ten or more, and recreating the soft, acidic, seasonally flooded blackwater conditions in which it naturally spawns is difficult to achieve consistently.