Other Bony Fishes
| Scientific Name | English Common Name | French Common Name |
|---|---|---|
| Osteoglossum bicirrhosum | Arowana | Arowana |
| Polypterus senegalus | Senegal Bichir | Polypterus |
True bony fishes are a wide and eclectic set, including many of the more exotic types such as anableps, arowanas, elephant noses (mormarids) electric eels, knife fish, snakeheads, mudskippers and such. Many of these can grow quite large and often require special conditions that make using them as community fish quite difficult.
There are some more commonly kept community fish included as well, the most notable being the various rainbow fish. Other interesting fish in this group would include the various freshwater gobies, butterfly fish and puffers. All in all, quite a wide diversity of fish species.
With the exception of the many rainbow fishes that are rather commonly available, most of the types in this category are exotic fishes. They are really best suited only for rather sophisticated aquarists.
Although there may be a few that can be added to a community aquarium, most of the fish may be somewhat more difficult to care for that a beginner may be able to cope with.
There are quite a few species of true bony fishes that often grow so large that they are not suitable for the common aquariums kept by the hobbyist.
In addition, they may also have difficult eating habits that make them more for the dedicated hobbyist who enjoys the challenges presented by larger or aggressive fishes. As noted, many of these species grow so large or are so aggressive that they refuse to have any other tank mates in their aquarium.
Of course, for those aquarists, of all levels, who are searching for that perfect addition of a rare or exotic fish with different attributes to their established aquarium and are looking for something different and rare, the true bony fishes offer a unique set of species that easily offers many strange and uncommon species perfect for their tastes.
