Nannostomus mortenthaleri

Nannostomus mortenthaleri, commonly known as the coral red pencilfish, is a freshwater species of fish belonging to the characin family Lebiasinidae.^[4] It is one of the most colourful of the genus, being suffused with a bright coral red colouration over its entire body and fins, in striking contrast to its horizontal jet black stripes. It was originally described as a subspecies of Nannostomus marginatus, but it is now recognised as a species in its own right.^[3] Mature males have a thickened anal fin. Maximum length is 29mm.^[3]

Nannostomus mortenthaleri
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Lebiasinidae
Genus:	Nannostomus
Species:	N. mortenthaleri
Binomial name
Nannostomus mortenthaleri Paepke & Arendt, 2001[2]
Synonyms
Nannostomus marginatus mortenthaleri Paepke & Arendt, 2001[3]

The fish is named in honor of aquarium-fish exporter Martin Mortenthaler (1961–2018), the owner of Aquarium Rio Momon SRL in Iquitos, Peru, who collected the type specimen.^[5]

Distribution

Its distribution is fairly restricted to date; it has only been recorded from a small tributary of the Nanay River, and possibly the Tigre River, Peru.^[3]