Banded umber
| Banded umber | ||||||||||||
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Banded umber ( Paralonchurus brasiliensis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Paralonchurus brasiliensis | ||||||||||||
| Steindachner , 1875 | ||||||||||||
The body shape of the banded umber , Paralonchurus brasiliensis , is similar to that of the freshwater drumstick and many umber fish (head small, snout rounded, mouth below), with a straight stomach and a raised back - an expression of a benthophagous way of life. It is particularly well adapted to this by a number of short mandibular barbels (similar to Pogonias cromis ), which make it easier for him to track down food in sand or silt (by means of chemical and movement stimuli). The banding, on the other hand, seldom remains in shadow fish until sexual maturity.
description
The fish, which is up to 30 cm long, is only slightly flattened on the side (compress). It is light silver (whitish or yellowish) with 5 to 9 dark brown band spots on each side (every other band can sometimes be faded) and a large eye spot above the gill cover . The fins are yellowish or brownish. The scales are, except on "cheeks" and "chest", ctenoid scales . The posterior margin of the preoperculum is smooth or finely serrated. The mouth is not large, horizontally aligned and reinforced with a band of small (villiform) teeth on both jaws (the pharyngeal teeth, on the other hand, are pinched). On the inner edge of the lower jaw there are about 14-16 short barbels (some in front as tufts). The Branchiospinen are short and thick (10–14 [5 + 6–7] on the first gill arch). All of this points to the food animals: Smaller invertebrates such as mussels and crabs, but mostly worms ( polychaetes ) and hardly any fish. The fish is plagued by numerous parasites.
The swim bladder has two paired lateral appendages at the front: one is horn-like and short, but the back is long, tubular, it extends in a semicircle to the back of the bladder itself. The asteriscus in the inner ear is long and thin, the lapillus is reduced. Both feature complexes are related to sound production and hearing, but this is not clear.
Around 50 lateral line scales (i.e. 25 vertebrae). Fin formula : D1 X – XII, D2 I / 28–31, A II / ~ 8. P 17–19, - D1 (triangular) and D2 (scaled base) almost connected. The A-spines are very short but pointed. C (in the lower half) drawn out to a point (oblique deltoid).
Occurrence and biology
In the coastal regions (including estuaries ) of the southern Caribbean and the tropical western Atlantic to northern Argentina - particularly often in places off Venezuela and southern Brazil. Nevertheless, it is rarely fished for food - it obviously does not taste good (enough) - it is "left" to Cynoscion regalis as a predator to make "good fish" out of it. The spawning season lasts from March to November; sexual maturity occurs in females about 17 cm in length; the age is very different (1–6 years), depending on the nutritional situation - which (among other things) can be attributed to heavy fishing (then for “industrial” purposes). Of course he also likes to go fishing for sport fishermen.
Names
Paralonchurus can be interpreted in two ways: para-lonchurus ("assigned to the genus Lonchurus ") or paralonch-urus (about "with a crooked rhombic tail"): παρα-beside, at; λóγχη lance tip; Rhombus; οὖρος tail.- Vernacular names refer several times to a (princess?) Maria Luisa or Marie-Louise.
relative
In the genus Paralonchurus Bocourt 1869 there are about 6 species; but most of them live in the tropical east Pacific; mostly again with banding (P often dark, other fins often with dark edges) and quite a similar way of life, in swarms, on sediments rich in detritus.
literature
Steindachner described the species in: session reports of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (Vienna), Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe (1. Abth.) 71 (1875): 475, from Pará and Santos (Brazil).
Web links
- Banded Umber on Fishbase.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ J.-L. Luque, D. Ramos Alves and R. da Silva Ribeiro: Community ecology of the metazoan parasites of Banded Croaker, Paralonchurus brasiliensis (Osteichthyes: Sciaenidae), from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Maringá, Acta Scientiarum (Biological Sciences) 25, pp. 273-278, 2003
- ^ D. dos Santos Lewis and NF Fontoura: Maturity and growth of Paralonchurus brasiliensis females in southern Brazil (Teleostei, Perciformes, Sciaenidae). Journal of applied Ichthyology, 21, pp. 94-100, 2005