D. sexfasciatus is a characin that comes from the Congo River drainage, Angola, and the swampy drainage area of Lake Tanganyika according to Kevin Thurston who wrote a great article called The Six-Barred Distichodus.

 

The tiger-striped Distichodus sexfasciatus is an extremely large, active species known to be harvested for the aquarium trade and human consumption according to the IUCN Red List of Endangered species. D. sexfasciatus is a pelagic species and it swims in shoals at the lower water layers of rivers and inshore areas of lake where it is known to feed on worms, crustaceans, insects and plant matter.

 

One of the most beautiful fish of the World, the six-striped Distichodus (Distichodus sexfasciatus) is also represented by a good number of specimens. We have no doubts that this species would be among the most wanted aquarium fish at all, were there not some characters that make the animals suitable only for the very long-suffering and extremely patient hobbyist: they grow (even in smaller tanks) to a length of more than 30 cm, are extremely quarrelsome and will - for sure! - eat any plant in the aquarium.

Usually this species has six stripes on the flanks. In our current shipment are also several specimens with other numbers of bars, most often seven. But do not think that these fish would represent other species; most often seven bars occur only on one side of the body while the other one has a regular number of stripes.

 

Seven is a lucky number: in any case it brought luck for our Congo importation, for all fish are healthy, stable and feel very well in their new environment!

 

For our customers: D. sexfasciatus has code 128001 (3-5 cm) and 128002 (5-7 cm) on our stock list. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

 

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer

Banded distichodus

Six-banded distichodus,

Sixbar distichodus

Tiger-striped Distichodus sexfasciatus