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Freshwater animals

Neon tetra

Amazing fact

The neon tetra’s scientific name honors Innes, a publisher and aquarist.

FishBase
Neon tetra in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The neon tetra’s scientific name honors Innes, a publisher and aquarist.

SourceFishBase — Paracheirodon innesi (Neon tetra)

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THE REAL WORLD

The real Neon tetra

Scientific name
Paracheirodon innesi
Japanese name
ネオンテトラ
Group
Freshwater animals
Order
Characiformes
Family
Characidae
Genus
Paracheirodon
Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Neon tetra” comes from

Its genus name comes from Greek words meaning “beside,” “hand,” and “teeth”.

FishBase
01

A small fish that lives in South American streams with clear water or dark "blackwater".

FishBase — Paracheirodon innesi (Neon tetra)
02

Its colors look very much like those of the cardinal tetra, but the neon tetra's red band is smaller.

Georgia Aquarium — Cardinal Tetra
03

Adults eat worms and small insects, crustaceans, and plant matter.

FishBase — Paracheirodon innesi (Neon tetra)

Basic data

Diet
Worms, small insects, crustaceans and plant matter
Range
Tributaries of the Solimões River in South America
FishBase

Where the Neon tetra has been recorded

World map with dots where the Neon tetra has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesCentral and South AmericaRivers and wetlands

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

简体中文
霓虹灯鱼
繁體中文
霓虹燈魚
Español
Tetra neón
Français
Néon bleu
Português (Brasil)
Néon
Italiano
Neon
العربية
تترا نيونية
Bahasa Indonesia
Neon tetra
Türkçe
Neon tetra

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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