With the livebearer market dominated by colourful crowd pleasers, Holly Walford dares make a case for a striped fish with a real hump.
LIMIA NIGROFASCIATA OR the humpbacked limia, are unique and unusual looking livebearers, the males of the species developing an arched back—hence the common name. Limia makes up a genus of live-bearing fishes under the Poeciliidae family, which includes many popular aquarium species such as swordtails, mollies, guppies, and platys.
Like most livebearers, males and females are quite easy to tell apart although they are often confused with other similar looking species such as Limia islai, a superficially species with almost the same body colour and black bar pattern to that of Limia nigrofasciata. Notably, L. islai males don’t develop the humped backs in adulthood.
The maximum length in males is approximately 5.5cm. Females are slightly smaller and duller in colour than males, but still possess distinct (albeit duller) vertical bars, and a much smaller and lighter yellow dorsal and caudal fin.
Males are a lot more colourful (as with most species of livebearers), but the real giveaways are the humped back and the obvious gonopodium—the adapted anal fin used in reproduction.
When young, humpbacked limia may not look like much but give them a bit of tender, loving care and some time to mature, and males will eventually come into their own with the most striking, black vertical bars along the flanks and beautiful, bright yellow fins. The caudal and dorsal edges will also be speckled with plenty of black spots and, interestingly, the dorsal fin will also start to enlarge as the fish matures and reaches sexual maturity.
Hungry humpbacks
In the wild, Limia nigrofasciata are omnivorous. In the aquarium, they will occasionally graze on algae from the leaves of plants and will greedily accept just about any type of food you might offer, including live foods, frozen foods, tropical flakes, granules and even fresh vegetable matter.
Make sure to feed them a well-rounded and balanced diet for optimal health. Don’t rely on animal protein to make up the bulk of their diet, as vegetable matter is important for their long-term wellbeing—finding the right balance is key.
Due to their ravenous nature, feeding little and often is (as with many fish that graze) the best option. Note that providing these fish with a proper diet is essential if you want them to grow to their maximum size. My own humpbacked limia have
