Green Tiger Barb Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Deep, laterally compressed, diamond-shaped body typical of tiger barbs, growing to about 7 cm
• Base body color is moss-green to olive rather than the orange-gold of the standard form
• Three to four bold black vertical bars cross the body from back to belly, unchanged from other tiger barb color morphs
• Snout, and the tips of the dorsal and caudal fins, often show a reddish-orange highlight
• Active, schooling fish with a slightly forked tail and a small mouth

Common look-alikes

• Standard (Sumatra) Tiger Barb: shares the identical black-barred pattern and body shape but has an orange-gold rather than green base color; the two are the same species in different color morphs.
• Albino Tiger Barb: same barred pattern but on a pale pink-white body instead of green, easily separated by the lack of any dark pigment.
• Tinfoil Barb: a much larger, all-silver fish without vertical bars, unlikely to be confused once size and pattern are compared.

Where you'll see one

The source species is native to slow, vegetated streams of Sumatra and Borneo in Southeast Asia; the green form itself is a selectively bred aquarium variant found almost exclusively in the ornamental fish trade rather than in the wild.