Paper fish

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Paper fish
Paper fish (Ctenolepisma longicaudata)

Paper fish ( Ctenolepisma longicaudata )

Systematics
Superclass : Six-footed (Hexapoda)
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Fish (zygentoma)
Family : Lepismatidae
Genre : Ctenolepisma
Type : Paper fish
Scientific name
Ctenolepisma longicaudata
Escherich , 1905

The paper fish ( Ctenolepisma longicaudata ) is a fish from the Lepismatidae family (scale fish or silver fish in the broader sense). The species, which is widespread worldwide today, is only found synanthropically in human dwellings; their real home is unknown.

features

The body is, typical for all fish, elongated spindle-shaped. The abdomen , which is tapered towards the back, has, like that of all fish, three long thread-like appendages, namely a terminal thread ( terminal filum ) between two cerci . The adult animals are scaled evenly gray on the upper side ( dorsal ). The scales cover the yellowish-white, unmarked cuticle . As a result, the species is very similar to the silverfish ( Lepisma saccharina ), with which it can appear together ( syntopically ) and is often confused.

The species can be distinguished from the related, synanthropic fish species in Europe as follows: Scales uniformly gray, and the extremities and appendages also have little pigmentation. Sexually mature animals ( adults ) very large, body length (measured without attachments) 11 to 15, mostly 13 millimeters. The antennae and the tail appendages (cerci and terminal filum) are very long, both longer than the body. For a reliable determination only features recognizable with a magnifying glass or microscope are to be consulted: As with all combfish (genus Ctenolepisma ) on the abdominal tergites there are two to seven (back plates 2–7 of the exoskeleton) on both sides three bristle combs made of short transverse rows of stiff bristles. (The silverfish lacks bristle combs; the furnacefish only has two.) The tergite of the tenth abdominal segment is elongated, trapezoidal with a straight, sometimes slightly edged rear edge; not short and triangular like the combfish . On the ventral side of the abdomen, near the rear end, there are two pairs of styli , which are articulated, leg-like appendages. Females have a thin, extremely long ovipositor that protrudes far beyond the rear end. The species name refers to this characteristic ( longicaudata = long tailed). In the male reproductive organs there are no paramers .

Way of life

Ctenolepisma longicaudata loves dry surroundings and avoids light; their preferred temperature is between 20 and 24 ° C. Residential houses, where the nocturnal animals feed on paper and cardboard, offer ideal conditions. Using the body's own cellulase, they break down cellulose fibers into sugar and digest it. If there is no food, they can survive for up to 300 days. Paper fish colonize the human habitat. Combfish, furnacefish and silverfish (in the narrower sense) are also so-called synanthropic species. The paper fish, like the silver fish, find each other with the help of a pheromone .

Spread and control

Paper fish are found worldwide on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. In South Africa, from which the species was first described (from Bothaville , Province of Free State ), it lives exclusively synanthropically in houses, so it cannot originally be native here. An origin from Central America was assumed, but where only finds from houses are known. In Australia it is the most common synanthropic fish species; presumably it strongly pushed back or completely displaced the earlier introduced silverfish. The origin of the species is therefore unknown.

In Europe, damage from the species has been reported, particularly in the Netherlands, where it was first found in 1989. Since the species can be found in stored materials of all kinds, its food needs are covered by ubiquitous materials such as paper and its need for moisture is also quite low, it is often carried away, but sometimes overlooked for a long time because of its similarity to the silverfish. More recently, the species seems to be spreading in northern and central Europe; Initial evidence is available from Belgium in 1998, Sweden in 2002 and England in 2014. Austria has a single find in the depot of a Viennese museum from 2002. In Germany, the first record was made in Hamburg in 2007; Meanwhile there are several finds from Northern Germany, so that further spread can be assumed.

The invasive animals hardly have any natural predators. Increasingly, traps are being set to limit damage to archives and museums, and some establishments operate pest management systems which of course also take care of other unwanted intruders.

Paper fish on paper
Paper fish on paper

Economic importance

Paper fish not only colonize industrial paper stores, but also threaten books and documents in archives, libraries and museums. Since, unlike the other fish and most other paper-eating insects, they reproduce optimally in a dry magazine climate (around 50 percent relative humidity), they are, in contrast to the former, not only regarded as annoying , but as pests.

Taxonomy and systematics

For the first time in 1905 Karl Escherich described Ctenolepisma longicaudata as a new species after animals from South Africa in a comprehensive monograph on Lepismatidae; the genus was also introduced there for the first time. The genus Ctenolepisma comprises around 100 species worldwide. 10 species are reported from Europe, most of which are restricted to the Iberian Peninsula , four are more common.

swell

  • E Lindsay: The biology of the silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudata Esch., With particular reference to its feeding habits. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 52, 1940: 35-83.
  • M Kahrarian, R Molero, M Gaju: The genus Ctenolepisma (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) in Western Iran, with description of three new species. In: Zootaxa 4093 (2), 2016: 217-230. doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.4093.2.4 .

literature

  • Bill Landsberger, Pascal Querner: New material pest in the cultural landscape. Paper fish spread in museums and depots . In: Restauro , No. 2, 2017, ISSN  0933-4017 , pp. 14-19.

Web links

Commons : Ctenolepisma longicaudata  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rafael Molero Baltanás, Pietro Paolo Fanciulli, Francesco Frati, Antonio Carapelli, Miguel Gaju-Ricart: New data on the Zygentoma (Insecta, Apterygota) from Italy. In: Pedobiologia 44, 2000: 320-332.
  2. ^ A b Pedro Wygodzinsky: A Review of the Silverfish (Lepismatidae, Thysanura) of the United States and the Caribbean Area. In: American Museum Novitates 2481, 1972: 26 pages.
  3. ↑ a b Badda M Beijne Nierop, Tom Hakbijl: Ctenolepisma longicaudatum heeft ongemarked bebouwd Nederland veroverd; with a sleutel voor de Nederlandse Lepismatidae (Thysanura). In: Entomological Reports 62 (2), 2002: 34–42.
  4. ↑ a b c T. Meineke, Kerstin Menge: Another finding of the paper fish Ctenolepisma longicaudata Escherich, 1905 (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae) in Germany . In: Entomological News and Reports . 58, 2014, pp. 153-154.
  5. ^ A b Thomas Schröder: Paper fish threaten museums . In: Berliner Zeitung , February 7, 2018., p. 16.
  6. ^ N Woodbury, G Gries: Pheromone-based arrestment behavior in the common silverfish, Lepisma saccharina, and giant silverfish, Ctenolepisma longicaudata. In: Journal of Chemical Ecology 33 (7), 2007: 1351-1358.
  7. ^ JG Theron: The domestic Fish Moths of South Africa (Thysanura, Lepismatidae). In: South African Journal of Agricultural Science 6, 1963: 125-130.
  8. ↑ Jürg Zettel (2013): Springtails and Silverfishes (Apterygota). Chapter 13.5 In: A Roques et al. (Editors): Alien terrestrial arthropods of Europe. In: BioRisk 4 (2), 2013: 851–854. doi : 10.3897 / biorisk.4.47
  9. ^ Graeme Smith: Australian Lepismatinae (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae). In: General and Applied Entomology 43, 2015: 25-36.
  10. ↑ a b Burkhard Strassmann: The paper eaters are coming. In: Die Zeit 10, March 2, 2017: p. 33. “They [the paper fish] destroy documents, photos and books, in the Netherlands they populated thousands of houses. Now the resistant insects are invading Germany too. ”- Online.
  11. ^ Koen Lock: Distribution of the Belgian Zygentoma. In: Notes fauniques de Gembloux 60 (1), 2007: 25-27.
  12. ^ T Pape, U Wahlstedt: En silverborstsvans nyinförd till Sverige (Thysanura: Lepismatidae). In: Entomologisk Tidskrift 123 (3), 2002: 149–151.
  13. Jump up ↑ MR Goddard, CW Foster, GJ Holloway: Ctenolepisma longicaudata (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) new to Britain. In: British Journal of Entomology and Natural History 29, 2016: 33-36.
  14. ↑ Klaus Zimmermann: Kammfischchen (Ctenolepisma lineata Fabricius, 1775) and other synanthropic Lepismatidae (Zygentoma) in Austria. In: inatura - Research online No. 31, 2016: 6 pages PDF
  15. ↑ Birgit Geller, Friedericke Krause, " Paper Fish - The Unwanted Roommates ", in: Archivamtblog v. 23rd June 2017.
  16. ^ Karl Escherich: The system of the Lepismatiden. Zoologica, original treatises from the entire range of zoology, issue 43. Erwin Nägele Verlag, Stuttgart 1904. digitized online. However, the first description is assigned to the year 1905 . The reason for this is the numbering of the Nägele publishing house within the magazine series: Zoologica 18 (43), 1905: 1–164. → There pages 75, 78, 83–84.