 It is sometimes found in the aquarium trade.The threadfin acara was first described in 1848 by the German zoologists J. P. Müller and Troschel as "Acara heckelii", and in 1912 was placed by Eigenmann in the monotypic genus "Acarichthys".The specific name honours the ichthyologyst Johann Jakob Heckel, director of the Vienna Museum of Natural History, who studied and catalogued fish sent to him by collectors.