Cyprinidae: Barbus "odessa"

Thursday 12 July 2012

Barbus "odessa"

The Odessa barb is a beautiful aquarium fish, but less well known than its famous barb relatives like the Cherry barb and the Rosy barb. The Odessa barb can still be tricky to find in ordinary pet stores and you might have to visit a fish auction, contact a breeder directly or purchase them over the Internet.The Odessa barb is a benthopelagic and potamodromous freshwater species native to South East Asia; from the Himalayas to Thailand. It’s native region include Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Odessa barbs live in the upper Mekong, Meklong, Irrawaddy and Salween, as well as in the upper parts of the Chao Phraya basin.The typical Odessa barb habitat consists of still and shallow marginal water in rivers and streams. The bottom is often muddy and the Odessa barb spends a lot of time browsing near the substrate in the shallow water.