Melanotaenia parva

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Melanotaenia parva
male

male

Systematics
Ovalentaria
Superordinate : Earfish relatives (Atherinomorphae)
Order : Earfish (Atheriniformes)
Family : Rainbow fish (Melanotaeniidae)
Genre : Melanotaenia
Type : Melanotaenia parva
Scientific name
Melanotaenia parva
( Allen , 1990)

Melanotaenia parva, a member of the rainbow fishfamily,is endemic to Lake Kurumoi near Vogelkop , West Papua. The species wasdiscoveredby Gerald Allen in 1989 during an expedition to Bintuni Bay.

features

The males have red fins, the body is more or less reddish in color. The melanotaenia- typical black longitudinal stripe is only strongly pronounced in the front area. Compared to males, females are uniformly pale yellow in color and remain somewhat smaller. Melanotaenia parva is (despite its name lat . Parva = small) with about 10 cm long, almost as large as many other rainbow fish too.

Melanotaenia parva is very closely related to the species Melanotaenia angfa that occurs in the immediate vicinity . Comparative genetic studies cannot distinguish the two types, but there are morphological differences in the number of hard rays in the first dorsal fin and the soft rays in the second dorsal and anal fin and the number of scales on the cheeks.

Occurrence and habitat

Melanotaenia parva could only be detected in the approximately 500 by 800 m large Kurumoi Lake in the catchment area of ​​the Yakati River. Most of the specimens were caught in murky water near the muddy, underwater vegetation-covered shore. The sleeper goby Oxyeleotris fimbriata and, as a neozoon, the East African Mozambique cichlid ( Oreochromis mossambica ) were also caught in the isolated and remote lake . World icon

Over the years, the lake level seems to have dropped dramatically. In 2007 the small lake was almost completely dry, except for a few gullies. Due to this fact, the species is classified as critically endangered in nature.

However, thanks to Heiko Bleher , who introduced some fish , there have been aquaristic stocks in the USA and Europe since 2000 , which have since been increased by breeding (e.g. within the International Society for Rainbow Fish ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kadarusman, Sudarto, Paradis, Pouyaud: Description of Melanotaenia fasinensis, a new species of rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) from West Papua, Indonesia with comments on the rediscovery of M. ajamaruensis and the endangered status of M. parva . In: Cybium . tape 34 , no. 2 , 2010, p. 207-215 .

literature

  • Heinrich winner: rainbow fish. The genus Melanotaenia . NTV, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-86659-154-7 , p. 32-34 .
  • Gerald Allen: Les poissons arc-en-ciel (Melanotaeniidae) de la Péninsule de Vogelkop, Irian Jaya, avec description de trois nouvelles espèces . In: Revue française d'Aquariologie . tape 16 , no. 4 , 1990, pp. 101-112 . (first scientific description)

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