TETRA5 letters
T–E–T–R–A. A small, colourful freshwater fish. Check this answer if your clue mentions tropical fish, an aquarium, or neon and cardinal fish.
Small Brightly Coloured Fish Crossword
Need a five-letter answer for small brightly coloured fish? Try TETRA or GUPPY. Use the letters already in your grid to choose, or find your clue wording below.
Answers at a glance
2 candidatesGUPPY5 letters
G–U–P–P–Y. A small tropical fish often kept in tanks. This answer also appears for the “small brightly coloured tropical fish” clue.
Both have five letters. An intersecting answer can help you tell them apart.
Tropical fish: TETRA or GUPPY?
For a clue such as “small brightly coloured tropical fish”, try TETRA or GUPPY. Both are recorded five-letter answers to this wording. The letters already in your grid will help you choose.
A tetra is a colourful freshwater fish, often kept in a tank. A guppy is a small tropical fish, and males can have bright markings. Both fit the short description, which is why the same wording can lead to different answers.
When the clue says “freshwater”
If your clue describes a small, brightly coloured tropical freshwater fish, TETRA (5 letters) fits. Tetras live in fresh water, and many are colourful. “Neon” or “cardinal” gives you another reason to check TETRA.
“Freshwater” alone does not rule out GUPPY. For the broader clue “aquarium fish”, DANIO is another five-letter answer listed in clue records. Use any letters you have: T?T?A matches TETRA; D?N?O matches DANIO.
Fish from South America
TETRA (5 letters) is a candidate. Colourful tetras such as the neon tetra come from South America. GUPPY (5 letters) can also fit: guppies are native to northern South America and the Caribbean.
Look for extra words in the clue. “Neon” points to TETRA; “livebearer” points to GUPPY, a fish that gives birth to live young. “South American” by itself does not separate the two.
South American freshwater fish
This longer description can still fit TETRA or GUPPY in a five-letter space. Both include fish from South American fresh waters. If your clue also mentions the West Indies or the Caribbean, check GUPPY.
The last letter is a quick way to choose between them: ????A fits TETRA, while ????Y fits GUPPY. If neither matches, recheck the crossing answer and the full clue.
Colourful aquarium fish
For “small brightly coloured aquarium fish”, check TETRA (5 letters). Tetras are small, colourful fish often kept in home tanks. TETRA is also a recorded answer for “brightly coloured aquarium fish”.
GUPPY (5 letters) is another fish to check if TETRA does not match your letters. Guppies are popular aquarium fish, and colourful males fit the description. A first letter of G or a last letter of Y would fit GUPPY.
If your clue only says “aquarium fish”, the answer is less specific. Recorded answers include DANIO, GUPPY and TETRA, all with five letters. If you have D?N?O, try DANIO. For a longer, more specific clue, check that the fish also fits the description.
Which five-letter answer fits?
Try TETRA or GUPPY. Both have five letters, but they differ at every position. One correct crossing letter is enough to choose between these two.
| Answer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TETRA | T | E | T | R | A |
| GUPPY | G | U | P | P | Y |
Starts with T? Try TETRA. Starts with G? Try GUPPY. A third letter of T fits TETRA; a third letter of P fits GUPPY. If your letters fit neither, check the crossing answers before choosing another fish.
If the clue says “neon” or “cardinal” and gives five spaces, use the fish name TETRA rather than the full two-word name. If your grid has a different number of spaces, neither of these five-letter answers will fit.
Common questions
Does “colored” instead of “coloured” change the answer?
No. They are American and British spellings of the same word. Check the clue and your letters in the same way.
Why do two sites give different answers?
They may be referring to different puzzles. The tropical-fish wording has been used for both TETRA and GUPPY. If you know the newspaper and puzzle date, check those too. Your grid’s letters are the best way to settle the choice.
What if I have no crossing letters yet?
Leave the fish answer blank for now and solve a clue that crosses it. Even one letter will separate TETRA from GUPPY. A five-letter space on its own cannot tell you which one to use.
What if neither answer fits?
Count the spaces again, then recheck the crossing letters. If those are correct, look at the full clue: it may describe a different fish. For the broad clue “aquarium fish”, DANIO is another five-letter possibility.
Does “tropical” mean the fish lives in the sea?
No. Tropical fish can live in fresh water or salt water. Tetras and guppies are freshwater fish, so “tropical freshwater fish” can describe either. If the clue specifically says “marine” or “reef”, look for a different fish.
What if the clue asks for more than one fish?
Check both the wording and the number of spaces. A plural clue may need a plural answer: TETRAS has six letters and GUPPIES has seven. Do not add an S automatically; the word still needs to fit the clue and every crossing letter.
About these answers
The tropical-fish and aquarium-fish clues have recorded answers. The longer freshwater and South American descriptions are suggestions based on the fish themselves. Check the full clue and your crossing letters before filling them in.
Fish Crossword is an independent crossword reference site.