Asian flag knifefish

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asian flag knifefish
Notopterus notopterus from Thailand

Notopterus notopterus from Thailand

Systematics
Subclass : Real bony fish (Teleostei)
Overcohort : Osteoglossomorpha (Osteoglossomorpha)
Order : Bony tongues (Osteoglossiformes)
Subordination : Knifefish-like (Notopteroidei)
Family : Old World Knifefish (Notopteridae)
Genre : Asian flag knifefish
Scientific name
Notopterus
Lacepède , 1800
Notopterus synurus from India

The Asiatic flag knifefish ( Notopterus ) are a genus of freshwater fish from the Old World knifefish family (Notopteridae). They occur with two species in South Asia, Notopterus notopterus lives in Southeast Asia in the Irrawaddy , Saluen , Mae Nam Mae Klong , Mae Nam Chao Phraya , Mekong and all river systems of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula , Sumatra and Javas and Notopterus synurus comes in the Indian Subcontinent in the Indus , Ganges , Brahmaputra , Mahanadi , Krishna , Kaveri and other rivers.

features

Asian flagged knifefish grow to a maximum of 60 cm in length, but usually stay at 25 cm. The body is strongly flattened at the sides, the back line is curved. As with all knife fish, the long anal fin, which has grown together with the caudal fin, is the main driving organ. The fin has 97 to 111 fin rays . Ventral fins are missing. It is named after the dorsal fin supported by seven to nine fin rays. More than 200 scales run along the sides of the body in a central longitudinal row. The gill cover has six to eight rows of scales. Notopterus can be distinguished from the genus Chitala by the convex or only slightly concave head profile and by the scales on the gill cover, which in Notopterus are significantly larger than the body scales, while in Chitala they are the same size.

Young fish are brown and show a pattern of dark bands over their entire body when they are less than five cm in length. Adult animals are silvery-gray with numerous gray spots on the head, trunk and fins. The top of the trunk is darker, the iris has a golden sheen.

Way of life

Asiatic flag knifefish live in clear rivers, lakes, canals and ponds and also go in light brackish water . They migrate to flooded areas during the rainy season, when reproduction occurs, and return to permanent waters during the dry season. The eggs are laid in small clumps between plants. A female 21 to 25 cm long usually lays between 1200 and 3000 eggs. The nocturnal and crepuscular fish feed on smaller fish, crustaceans , insects and aquatic plants.

use

Asian flagged knifefish are popular food fish in their homeland.

literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Sébastien Lavoué, Siti Zafirah Ghazali, Jamsari Amirul Firdaus Jamaluddin, Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Khaironizam Md. Zain: Genetic evidence for the recognition of two allopatric species of Asian bronze featherback Notopterus (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha, Notopteridae). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 96 (2): 449-454.

Web links

Commons : Asian Flag Knifefish ( Notopterus notopterus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files