Melanotaenia garylangei

by Gary Lange

We collected this fish on our third trip to Papua, New Guinea (Indonesia) in 2010. We flew into the relatively new town of Dekai. Unlike most older villages, it was laid out in a grid, but in the middle of the jungle, with no roads connecting it to other villages or towns.

The road to the east and more new river systems looked very inviting, but none of the bridges over the big rivers was finished. So we were only able to scout a few of the smaller streams and rivers near the town. We found lightly tannin stained streams that were quite cool (~72F), so that you couldn’t stay in too long without getting a chill. In that stream we found Melanotaenia cf “goldiei”.

In a very tannin-stained, muddy and slow flowing stream we found a new Pseudomugil as well as this new rainbowfish (above) which later was named in my honor, Melanotaenia garylangei. They get to about three inches. Like most rainbowfish they are very easy to care for. A school of six will fit into a two foot tank, but you will have a better display with ten or more in a three foot planted tank. They will eat flake food, but will readily breed when fed live foods and meaty frozen foods such as frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms.

They thrive in temperatures between about 7480F. Perform quality water changes for them and they will provide you with lots of enjoyment and fry!