Description

This minnow-like fish is about 3 inches long. The normal coloring is gray-green on the back with silver flanks and belly. The dorsal fin is blackish, the other fins are reddish or yellowish. Both sexes are normally colored similarly, but during the breeding season the male becomes brilliantly colored. He turns olive-green on the back, his flanks becoming iridescent with all the colors of the rainbow but with violet and blue predominant. His throat and belly turn red or orange, his paired fins yellow, tail fin green and yellow, and unpaired fins red with black edges.

Distribution and Habitat

Bitterlings live in ponds, lakes, marshes, muddy and sandy pools, and backwaters of rivers. They range from Central and Eastern Europe through Asia Minor.

Reproduction

The bit