Red Tail Black Shark: A Species Rescued From the Edge of Extinction

In this guide

Overview

The red tail black shark carries a deep, velvety black body set off by a single vivid red or orange tail fin, a striking, minimal colour combination that has made it a long-time favourite in the aquarium trade. It comes from Thailand and reaches around twelve to fifteen centimetres.

This fish has one of the most remarkable conservation stories of any species on this list: heavy collection for the aquarium trade combined with dam construction and pollution across its native river basins pushed it to being formally declared Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN in 1996. A small surviving population was rediscovered in a single Thai river basin in 2011, and the species is now classified as Critically Endangered rather than fully extinct, though its wild future remains genuinely precarious. Every red tail black shark in the aquarium trade today, worldwide and in India, is captive bred.

Tank and water requirements

A single red tail black shark does well in a tank of a hundred litres or more, with caves and rockwork to establish a territory. It is territorial in a similar way to the rainbow shark and should be kept singly rather than with others of its own kind.

It tolerates a wide range of water conditions, including typical Indian tap water, and does not require particularly special water chemistry.

Diet and a genuine talking point

An omnivorous diet of good-quality flakes or pellets, supplemented with occasional live or frozen food and algae wafers, suits it well. It is a reasonably active grazer and scavenger.

This is genuinely one of the more remarkable fish available in the ordinary aquarium trade: a species that was believed completely gone from the wild for fifteen years, kept alive worldwide only through aquarium breeding programmes, before a small wild population was found again. Buying and keeping one well is, in a small way, participating in the continued existence of captive lines of a species that very nearly disappeared entirely.

Buying tips

• Priced around sixty to one hundred fifty rupees per fish in most Indian shops, reflecting how thoroughly established captive breeding has made this fish despite its wild rarity
• Keep only one per tank given its territorial nature towards similarly shaped bottom dwellers
• A genuinely remarkable species to introduce to visitors given its extraordinary, well-documented conservation story

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