River slimy fish
| River slimy fish | ||||||||||||
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River blimp ( Salaria fluviatilis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Salaria fluviatilis | ||||||||||||
| Asso , 1801 |
The river slime fish ( Salaria fluviatilis , Syn . : Blennius fluviatilis ) belongs to the family of slime fish (Blenniidae) and is found in the Mediterranean Sea and in parts of the Atlantic. Unlike other species of slimy fish , it also lives in brackish water and penetrates the estuary of rivers.
features
The river blimp has a slender, elongated and laterally flattened body, and like all representatives of the blimp it has no scales. It reaches a body length of up to 15 centimeters. The head with the terminal mouth is large and has a steeply sloping forehead, the eyes are high above. There is a small, forked skin tentacle in front of the front edge of the eye. At spawning time, the males also wear a fleshy longitudinal comb on their heads. The back is olive brown in color, the flanks are brown to yellowish and the abdominal color is white or yellowish. The back and the flanks are mostly drawn with dark brown, faded crossbars or marbling.
The dorsal fin extends from the base of the head to just before the transition to the one-piece caudal fin and is not indented. It consists of 12 hard and 17 to 18 limb or soft rays. The thread-like pelvic fins are throaty, so lie in front of the pectoral fins and consist of one hard and 2 to 3 soft rays. The anal fin consists of 2 hard rays and 15 to 20 soft rays. The swim bladder is lacking, as with all blennies.
distribution
The river blimp is found in the western and north-eastern Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast between Portugal and Morocco. It occurs in the sea as well as in the brackish water of the estuary areas of rivers and is the only European species of slime that forms stationary populations in fresh water .
Way of life
River slime fish live on the bottom of the bank zone ( littoral ) at depths of about one meter, in winter they retreat to deeper regions. They can be found both free-swimming and in hiding spots. The fish eat small invertebrates such as small crustaceans and insect larvae, as well as smaller fish.
They spawn in spring and summer from April to July. During this time, the males lure the females into their burrows with nodding movements so that they lay the eggs here. The female sticks the 1.0 to 1.2 mm eggs in packages to the ceiling of the cave. The males guard and fanning the spawn of several females until they hatch (active brood care ) after about 2 weeks at average water temperatures of 20 ° C. Young fish are usually sociable, but with age they become territorial and aggressive loners.
literature
- Andreas Vilcinskas : Fish. Central European freshwater species and marine fish from the North and Baltic Seas. BLV, Munich 2000; P. 186. ISBN 3-405-15848-6 .
Web links
- River blimp on Fishbase.org (English)
- Salaria fluviatilis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Crivelli, AJ, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2014.