Danio margaritatus “Celestial Pearl Danio / Galaxy Rasbora”

The extremely gaudy and tiny fish is probably one that every aquarist should keep once in their lifetime! The Celestial Pearl Danio simply blew up the aquarium world with its introduction, back when we called it the Galaxy Rasbora. Taxonomically it hasn’t even been scientifically described for 10 years yet, and it’s already been renamed from Celestichthys margaritatus to the current Danio margaritatus. It’s been a source of concern as well, initially raising fears that it had been immediately over-collected and virtually wiped out; the aquarium trade caught a lucky break when more populations were discovered. This species can be just gorgeous; some folks have even compared it to a Brook Trout in terms of appearance. However, this is also a surprisingly diminutive fish; it won’t even break the 1″ mark as a mature adult. They can be shy fish; they definitely benefit from being in a well planted tank, and being kept in groups, which will bring them out into the open more. I won’t offer these for sale unless they’re well-conditioned.