# Killies Import > Non-Killie Segment >  Your Smallest Fish

## stormhawk

Here's a deviation into an area that not many of us go into. The world of tiny fish. A picture of the smallest fish in my care.  :Very Happy:  Anyone else into miniatures?

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## whuntley

Yep,

I like little fish a lot. BG just sent me a herd of _Heterandria formosa_ that I really dig.

For years we thought they were the world's smallest vertebrate, but a few gobies have them beat. Is yours one of those?

Wright

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## stormhawk

Just to add, this little goby is just 15mm in size. Sometimes I have a hard time searching for the little fella. Feeds on tubifex and invertebrates like daphnia and BBS.

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## budak

My Boraras urolpthamoides are circa 1 cm and fat too. Do they count as small or do I have to lop off their caudals to qualify??

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## stormhawk

Wright, that's quite possible considering how small this fella is. There is a species of goby from the Philippines that takes the cake. Called _Pandaka pygmaea_, males are 7.5 - 9.9-mm (0.28 - 0.38-in) long and weigh 4 - 5 mg (0.00014 - 0.00018 oz) at maturity.

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## stormhawk

budak, B. urophthalmoides can achieve sizes beyond 1.5cm. I have several that are 2cm now.  :Laughing:  Overfeeding with tubifex, daphnia and dried foods causes them to grow to such sizes.

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## budak

A certain Danionella from Myanmar (in one of my stashed old TFHs) is supposed to be the smallest (in bulk)... though longer than the Philippines goby it is less heavily built.... although I wonder if those tiny red cyprinids caught by Kuching in Sarawak would beat the Danionella. 

PDF here

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## whuntley

My Baensch lists my _formosa_ as the world's 7th lsmallest fish, but it is, no doubt, out of date.

He shows the males as 2 cm and the females to 4.5 cm. Mine are smaller but may be young.

I'm checking for a collection location for mine, but knowing BG, I would suspect just N. of Lake Ponchartrain near New Orleans.

I love some of the tiny _Boraras_ species, but they rarely make it to the stores here. Robert Nhan visited Viet Nam a couple of years ago, and brought back some lovely tiny yellow ones he caught there. IDK what species they were, but they were certainly small, too.

Any pics of _B. urophthalmoides_ around? I have not seen them before, I suspect.

Wright

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## stormhawk

Wright, I don't have a picture of the species but a local hobbyist has a splendid photograph of this species. I gave up photographing mine because they can't stay in position long enough for me to get a decent shot off.

They are characterised by a single black marking (with an occasional metallic green sheen) running from behind the gill cover and ending at the base of the caudal fin.

This marking is usually like an odd-shaped oval with pointed tips.

Body colouration is usually clear to occasionally light sandy brown. Dorsal and anal fins are tipped black, as is the two tips of the caudal fin. Body is rather stocky, with a short stout body. B. brigittae, which is very similar, has a more streamlined shape.

B. urophthalmoides can get pretty big for a Boraras and they are incessant feeders. Very greedy for a very small fish. I bet they're the ones Robert brought back from Vietnam. They're found in Vietnam too. :wink:

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## budak

And very hardy and long lived too for their size! Mine (except for those gobbled up by a wild einthoveni) are approaching two years in my mini tank.

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## stormhawk

Somehow or rather they do better in mini tanks 1ft and below. When you keep them in large shoals in a big tank they seem to suffer from malnutrition and all sorts of problems.  :Confused:

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## budak

In the wild, I find Boraras maculatus in very sheltered, stillish blackwater water habitats, small forest pools with overgrown foliage and good leaf litter. Cohabitants are typically Paros, Chocolates, Systoma hexazona, wine bettas, smaller rasboras like pauciperforata.... you won't find them in waters with harlequins, elegans, einthovenii..... but where they exist, they seem to form large numbers.

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## TyroneGenade

I have _Neoheterandia elegans_ mixed in with my _Rivulus frenatus_ and _xiphidius_ as dithers. They supposedly only reach 2 cm in length. You can find a picture here.

tt4n

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## nonamethefish

I keep H. formosa. The males differ quite a bit in size IME. 

Tyrone: How do the N. elegans compare to H. formosa?

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## danny1

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can get Heterandria formosa in Singapore?

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## stormhawk

Hello there Danny1 (I presume Danny's your name),

I don't know of anyone keeping _Het. formosa_ but we do have _Gambusia holbrooki_ that crops up in feeder mollies at the LFSes here in Singapore.

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## hwchoy

> Any pics of _B. urophthalmoides_ around? I have not seen them before, I suspect.
> 
> Wright


beware some Internet pics confuses this with the _B. brigittae_. some _B. urophthalmoides_ will show flushes of red.

*Boraras urophthalmoides*

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## hwchoy

> Hello there Danny1 (I presume Danny's your name),
> 
> I don't know of anyone keeping _Het. formosa_ but we do have _Gambusia holbrooki_ that crops up in feeder mollies at the LFSes here in Singapore.


stormhawkii, if you come across these "other" species can keep some for me?

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## stormhawk

_choyii_, if I do come across any of these oddballs I'll update you accordingly. :wink:

Another bit to add on to _B. urophthalmoides_. Some specimens will show a metallic green sheen to the black mid-body marking.

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## hwchoy

Gen-X in marine parade has a tankful of very nice specimens of _B. urophthalmoides_ with many showing a red flush.

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## hwchoy

> _choyii_, if I do come across any of these oddballs I'll update you accordingly. :wink:


just BUY IT! :P

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## Nonn

Those with reddish body and metallic green shine are male. They tends to be smaller than the female as well.

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