Bluegreen Lampeye (Procatopus aberrans)

Overview

The Bluegreen Lampeye, Procatopus aberrans, is a small, sleek West African lampeye that flashes an electric blue-green sheen along its flanks whenever the light catches it. Though often shelved among the killifish, it belongs to the lampeye group and behaves nothing like the annual killies of seasonal pools; this is a rheophilic stream fish from flowing forest creeks, and it brings those demands with it: clean, oxygen-rich, moving water and the security of its own shoal. It is a peaceful, upper-water species that rewards the experienced keeper rather than the beginner, and it looks its absolute best kept as a proper group in a mature, planted aquarium where the males can display against green cover. Older supplier lists have carried the name under misspellings such as 'Procathopus aberans', but the accepted spelling is Procatopus aberrans. Supplied in prime condition, it is a jewel for a carefully prepared soft-water community and a genuinely rewarding fish for anyone ready to meet its needs.

Appearance & Identification

Slim, elegant and streamlined, the Bluegreen Lampeye grows to around 5.5 cm. The body is semi-translucent and overlaid with a shimmering blue-green lateral flash that shifts and glows with the angle of light and the fish's mood, and the upper part of the eye carries the reflective spot that gives every lampeye its common name. Males are clearly the showier sex, larger and more colourful, often developing intensified colour and delicate extensions or coloured margins on the unpaired fins, which they spread in display; females are noticeably paler, plainer and more transparent. Colour is heavily condition-dependent, so freshly imported fish can look washed-out and grey after the stress of travel. Given a settled shoal, clean flowing water and good food, the blue-green side flash deepens dramatically and the males begin to show their full finnage, transforming an unremarkable new arrival into a living jewel.

Aquarium Setup

Recreate a forest stream. Use a mature, well-planted aquarium of 60 litres or more, and 90 litres or more is better for a proper shoal, with gentle to moderate current, brisk oxygenation and pristine water throughout. A spray bar, small powerhead or angled filter return supplies the moving water these fish expect without pinning them into one corner, and the surface agitation it creates keeps dissolved oxygen high, which this stream species genuinely relies on. Furnish the tank with a darker substrate, generous planting, roots or bogwood and some floating cover, and keep temperature at 24-26°C, pH around 6.5-7.5 and hardness near 5-15 dGH. Above all, keep nitrogen waste very low: this is a species for an established, biologically mature aquarium and never a freshly cycled one, and disciplined, regular water changes matter far more to its long-term health than any clever aquascaping. A tight-fitting lid is not optional but essential.

Temperament & Tank Mates

This is a gentle shoaling fish, not a scrappy, territorial killifish. Males display to one another and to females with spread fins and quivering runs, but serious aggression is rare when the group is large enough and the tank has room to spread out. Keep a shoal of six or more, and ideally eight or more, to bring out their natural confidence and the full range of male display behaviour; kept singly or in twos they turn shy, colourless and reclusive. The fish spend most of their time in the upper and middle water, patrolling the flow, so leave open swimming lanes near the surface. Choose their companions with care, keeping them only with calm, similarly sized species that share their need for clean, cool, well-oxygenated water and will not bully them or strip the food from the surface first.

Feeding

Bluegreen Lampeyes are micro-predators built for small foods, and matching the food size to the fish is the whole secret to feeding them well. Offer finely sized frozen and live items such as daphnia, cyclops, baby brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and finely chopped bloodworm as the core of the diet, and use a fine flake or micro pellet only where it is taken willingly rather than relying on it. They feed actively in the upper and middle water, so deliver food where the shoal can reach it near the surface before heavier or faster tank mates strip the meal. Feed little and often, in small amounts the group clears quickly, and never let uneaten food sit and foul a tank this sensitive to water quality. Varied, small, frequent feeding on live and frozen foods does more for their colour and condition than any single prepared food.

Breeding

Procatopus aberrans has been bred in aquaria, though it is a project for the committed rather than a casual first spawn. In the wild and the tank these lampeyes are crevice-spawners: breeders report eggs pushed into tight cracks in wood or rock, or into fine spawning mops positioned near the flow, laid a few at a time over an extended period rather than in a single event. The eggs and, especially, the tiny fry demand immaculate, well-oxygenated water, and the fry need very small first foods such as infusoria and microworm before they are large enough to progress onto baby brine shrimp. If breeding is the goal, begin with a well-conditioned shoal, mature and stable water, plenty of small live foods and a dedicated spawning and rearing setup. For most keepers, the first and best objective is simply keeping the adult group stable, active, colourful and well fed.

Delivery & Live Arrival Guarantee

Every Bluegreen Lampeye is hand-selected and quarantined before sale, then packed in oxygenated bags with insulation and heat packs when needed and sent by tracked, live-animal courier. Your order is covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee, so it reaches you safely anywhere in the UK.

Care Table For Quick Planning

Water And Feeding Table

Compatibility Table

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