Symphysosdon discus (Heckel, 1840)
| Meaning of Name |
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| First Description |
Heckel 1840. (Symphysodon discus ) |
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| Size |
6"+ |
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| Sub-Genus |
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| Group |
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| Synonyms | . | ||
Populations
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| Type Locality |
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| Distribution |
The discus reaches from the complete central Amazon Basin to the Rio Putumayo in Peru. |
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| Habitat |
Discus are a South American tropical fish founfd in seasonally flooded areas around rivers and tributaries feeding into the Amazon River as the rainy season subsides, the floodwaters slowly recede, leaving small lakes behind where adundant forms of aquatic life flourish throughout the year. The incoming and retreating floodwaters tend to move slowly because of the flatness of the terrain. The result is mobility for various species, new feeding opportunities, and new habitats among submerged roots and tree trunks. Discus are found mainly in upper tributaries of the Rio Negro and Rio Madiera as well as surrounding lakes created by flood water and have a ph value somwhere in between 4.0 and 7.0. The temperature of the water is rather constant during the day and night, in the 80+ degrees farenheit range and it has a low nutrient level. Dicus live in groups among submerged tree trunks or roots that are exposed to indirect sunlight. |
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| Distinguishing Characteristics | Adult males of the same brood are typically bigger, more colorful, thicker bodied, and have more protruding foreheads. Males also often have broader and more pointed dorsal fins.
They are generally more agressive than adult females except while spawning. Any one of these indicators will not guarantee that a fish is male or female by itself, particulary if you only have one other specimen to work with. The only sure way
to sex a fish is to have an expert aquarist vent the fish to determine its gender. The best way to select a pair to breed is to wait until your group of discus have grown to maturity. Carefully observing them for a while will indicate to you that there may be two fish that tend to spend more time together and behave aggressively to other fish passing by. |
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| History |
When in 1840 Jacob Heckel classified 9 new genera, Symphysodon discus was among them. In 1903 Jacques Pellegrin described the second species, Symphosydon aequifasciatus. In 1960 Leonard P Schultz revised the genus and set up two new subspecies S. a. axelrodi and S. a. haraldi, so that they automatically had to set up the nominal subspecies S. a. aquifasciatus. In 1981 Warren Burgess intoduced Symphysodon discus willischwartzi, and likewise had to set up the nominal subspecies S. d. discus. |
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| Breeding and Care |
Diet: The main thing to concern yourself with is to feed the fish a variety of foods so that the discus can obtain a balanced diet. There are commercially prepared flake and pellet foods as well as frozen foods especially made for discus.
When available, hobbyists often feed live foods as well. |
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| Remarks |
Information used on this page gleaned from The Back to Nature Guide to Discus by Dick Au and from the Aqualog South American Discus IV on Discus and Angels |
