Microrasbora

Microrasbora
Microrasbora kubotai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Osteichthyes
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Ostariophysi
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Subfamily:	Danioninae
Genus:	Microrasbora Annandale, 1918
Species
Microrasbora gatesi Microrasbora kubotai Microrasbora microphthalma Microrasbora nana Microrasbora rubescens and see text

Microrasbora is a genus of small fishes. The generic name means "small Rasbora", however these fish appear to be more closely related to the danios than rasboras. They inhabit mainly Thailand and Myanmar; Microrasbora rubescens has escaped from aquariums and is now an invasive species in many temperate regions, apparently benefitting from global warming.

This genus is not considered to be monophyletic. The status of "Microrasbora" erythromicron is currently uncertain; it seems to be intermediate between Microrasbora sensu stricto and Danio, together with the Celestial Pearl Danio (Celestichthys margaritatus). As the latter species was described too recently to be included in phylogenetic studies, the precise status of "M." erythromicron remains unresolved and the assertion that it belongs in Danio seems now spurious. It appears similar to the Celestichthys but does not seem to actually belong into that genus; most probably, it will eventually be separated in another monotypic genus.

Remaining in Microrasbora are:

• Microrasbora gatesi Herre, 1939 – Burmese Golden Rasbora
• Microrasbora kubotai
• Microrasbora microphthalma Jiang, Chen & Yang, 2008
• Microrasbora nana Kottelat & Witte, 1999
• Microrasbora rubescens Annandale, 1918 – Red Dwarf Rasbora
• Microrasbora cf. rubescens "Thuzari" – Glowlight Rasbora, Flame Red Rasbora; tentatively placed here

References

• Hellweg, Mike (2008): The Glowlight Rasbora (Microrasbora sp. "thuzari"). Retrieved 2008-JAN-23.
• Hong'e, Mo (2007): New fish species discovered in China. Xinhua, 2007-DEC-09. Retrieved 2008-JAN-21.
• Mayden, Richard L.; Tang, Kevin L.; Conway, Kevin W.; Freyhof, Jörg; Chamberlain, Sarah; Haskins, Miranda; Schneider, Leah; Sudkamp, Mitchell; Wood Robert M.; Agnew, Mary; Bufalino, Angelo; Sulaiman, Zohrah; Miya, Masaki; Saitoh, Kenji & He, Shunping (2007): Phylogenetic relationships of Danio within the order Cypriniformes: a framework for comparative and evolutionary studies of a model species. Journal of Experimental Zoology B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 308B(5): 1-13. doi:10.1002/jez.b.21175 (HTML abstract)
• Roberts, Tyson R. (2007): The "Celestial pearl danio", a new genus and species of colourful minute cyprinid fish from Myanmar (Pisces: Cypriniformes). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 55(1): 131-140. PDF fulltext