Longfin tetra

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Longfin tetra
Longfin tetra Brycinus longipinnis Hellabrunn Zoo-2.jpg

Longfin tetra ( Bryconalestes longipinnis )

Systematics
Sub-cohort : Ostariophysi
Otophysa
Order : Tetras (Characiformes)
Family : African tetras (Alestidae)
Genre : Bryconalestes
Type : Longfin tetra
Scientific name
Bryconalestes longipinnis
( Günther , 1864)

The long-fin tetra ( Bryconalestes longipinnis , syn .: Brycinus longipinnis , ( Lat. "Longipinnis" - with long fins)) is a freshwater fish that occurs in tropical Africa from Liberia to Congo in flowing rainforest waters .

features

Male long-fin tetra are 12 to 13 cm long, females stay smaller. The basic color of the fish is olive green to olive yellow with a silvery sheen. The lower part of the tail fin stalk is adorned with a broad, black longitudinal band that narrows down to the middle tail fin rays . Above it is a golden shimmering zone. The upper part of the iris glows red. Males have elongated dorsal and anal fin. In the female the anal fin is concave, in the male with a straight edge. The fin color is gray, yellowish to reddish in juvenile fish.

Way of life

Longfin tetra are schooling fish and can be found in the upper areas of their living waters. They inhabit both large rivers and small streams and are the only Brycinus species that also colonizes smaller rivers. They feed on insects, other invertebrates, and plant matter. The food is only taken from the surface of the water and from the open water, not from the bottom of the water. The fish are very productive. A female lays up to 2800 relatively hard-shell eggs that do not adhere to each spawning process. They have a diameter of 2.2 to 2.6 mm. The fry hatch after 6 to 7 days at a water temperature of 26-28 ° C. Brood care does not take place.

Systematics

The long- fin tetra was first scientifically described in 1864 by the German ichthyologist Albert Günther under the name Brachyalestes longipinnis . The terra typica is located in Sierra Leone , the syntypes come from the Congo . The species was later assigned to the genera Alestes and Brycinus . It has been part of Bryconalestes since 2005 .

The longfin tetra is probably not a single species, but a shoal of different, cryptic species .

literature

  • Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
  • Axel Zarske: Brycinus longipinnis. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 174.

Individual evidence

  1. Bryconalestes longipinnis in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
  2. ^ Zanata, AM and RP Vari (2005): The family Alestidae (Ostariophysi, Characiformes): a phylogenetic analysis of a trans-Atlantic clade. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society v. 145: 1-144.
  3. Arroyave, J., Martinez, CM, Stiassny, MLJ (2019): DNA barcoding uncovers extensive cryptic diversity in the African long ‐ fin tetra Bryconalestes longipinnis (Alestidae: Characiformes) . Journal of Fish Biology, 95 (2): 379-392.

Web links

Commons : Longfin tetra ( Brycinus longipinnis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files