Swamp Blue-eye - Pseudomugil paludicola

The Swamp Blue-eye was scientifically described by Allen & Moore in 1981. Its scientific name is Pseudomugil paludicola. The species was first collected in 1973 by Moore, who worked as a biologist for the PNG Fisheries Department.

Description
The Swamp Blue-eye can be 1 ¼ inch (slightly over 3 cm) long. The body is semi-translucent and almost completely colourless. The fins are also clear on these fishes, but the pelvic fins have a pale yellowish tint.

The mature males can be recognized on the anterior part of the anal fin and on base of the caudal fin, since these two areas are yellow in mature male Swamp Blue-eyes. The yellow colour is also present on the outer edge of the second dorsal fin. In addition to this, the male is normally less plump than the female.

Geographical distribution, habitat and conservation
The Swamp Blue-eye lives in the southern part of New Guinea. The typical Swamp Blue-eye habitat is coastal rainforest. This species inhabits swampy regions near the coast, including some tributaries of the rivers Binaturi, Pahoturi and Morehead. The Swamp Blue-eye can also be found in streams in the westernmost part of the Vogelkop Peninsula. The waters where you can encounter Swamp Blue-eye are generally clear and slow-flowing, and it can even be found in stagnant water during the dry season.  

The Swamp Blue-eye is not included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  

Keeping Swamp Blue-eye in aquariums
The Swamp-Blue eye can be kept in a species aquarium or be combined with other small and non-aggressive species that appreciates the same environment and water conditions. Keep the water neutral or a bit alkaline, from pH 7.0 to 8.0. The water hardness should not exceed dH 20. The recommended water temperature is fairly high, from 26 to 30 degrees C (79 to 86 degrees F). Try to resemble the natural habitat of the Swamp Blue-eye in the aquarium. These fishes are known to inhabit clear rainforest streams and swampy environments in the wild. Include plenty of hiding spots in the aquarium.

It is important to provide your Swamp-Blue eyes with a varied and nutritious diet in the aquarium. You can for instance combine high-quality flake food with live insect larvae, small crustaceans and similar.

Breeding Swamp Blue-eye
Very little is known about the breeding habits of Swamp-Blue eye, but they are believed to be similar to those exhibited by Pseudomugil gertrudae. If you want to try breeding Swamp-blue eye, it is therefore a good idea to read up on the available information regarding Pseudomugil gertrudae and then embark on a trial and error expedition.

Pseudomugil gertrudae is commonly known as the Spotted Blue-eye. Live food is known to increase the chances of spawning and a varied diet is important. You can for instance give your fish different types of insect larvae and tiny crustaceans combined with a high-quality flake food. Acidic water (down to pH 5.5) promotes spawning, but this species is capable of spawning in alkaline conditions as well and have done so in aquariums in the past. Whether or not Swamp-Blue eyes favours acidic conditions during breeding is hard to guess. Generally speaking, Swamp-Blue eyes should be kept in neutral or alkaline conditions, but many fish species can be coaxed into breeding by a change in pH-value.

The Spotted Blue-eye readily spawns among java moss and spawning mops. This species prefers to deposit the eggs no more than 10 cm (4 inches) from the bottom. You can feed the fry infusoria and finely powdered flake food until they are large enough to eat newly hatched brine shrimp, and Swamp Blue-eye fry would most likely appreciate the same diet.

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