Spotted rainbow fish
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Spotted rainbow fish ( Glossolepis maculosus ) |
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| Glossolepis maculosus | ||||||||||||
| Allen , 1981 |
The spotted rainbow fish ( Glossolepis maculosus ) is a freshwater fish from northern Papua New Guinea . It was first collected in 1979 by Barry Crockford and scientifically described by the Australian ichthyologist Allen in 1981 .
features
The body of the spotted rainbow fish is greenish-bronze with pale blue reflective scales and a series of dark spots along the center of the body. The number of spots varies individually from 4 to 10 and can also be different on each side of the body. Below the middle of the body, the species is whitish and yellowish towards the tail. The fins are bluish green with a black border. The females are similar but more reserved in color than the males. They can also be distinguished by their slightly rounder body and rounded fin tips. Adult males are larger and higher back than the females. The male's first dorsal fin protrudes over the attachment of the second dorsal fin when put on. The species grows to about six centimeters, rarely up to eight centimeters.
The spotted rainbow fish, like the closely related Ramu rainbow fish , is more reminiscent of species from the genus Melanotaenia than from the genus Glossolepis . Even according to genetic studies, it belongs to the genus Melanotaenia with Melanotaenia affinis and Melanotaenia iris as further close relatives.
Occurrence
The species is only known locally from the Markham , Ramu and Sepik river systems . The first find comes from a small tributary of the Oomsis about 22 km west of Lae .
The habitat are slow-flowing rivers, swamps and calm oxbow lakes. Usually the species occurs in relatively calm, clear water at temperatures of 18 to 28 ° C. They prefer to stay near floating leaf plants, underwater vegetation or sunken branches. Sometimes the spotted rainbow fish is said to appear together with Glossolepis kabia , Melanotaenia affinis and Chilatherina campsi .
literature
- Gerald R. Allen: A new species of Glossolepis (Pisces: Melanotaeniidae) from fresh waters of Papua New Guinea . In: Records of the Western Australian Museum . tape 9 , no. 3 , 1981, p. 301-306 .
- Barry Crockford: Glossolepis maculosus . In: Fishes of Sahul . tape 3 , no. 1 , 1985, ISSN 0813-3778 , pp. 102-104 .
Web links
- Adrian R. Tappin: Home of the Rainbowfish. Glossolepis maculosus. Retrieved October 28, 2013 .
- Spotted rainbow fish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Glossolepis maculosus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Allen, G., 1996. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ^ Unmack, Allen, Johnson: Phylogeny and biogeography of rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) from Australia and New Guinea . In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . tape 67 , 2013, p. 15-27 .