Petit-Bullhead
| Petit-Bullhead | ||||||||||||
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Petit bullhead ( Cottus petiti ) |
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| Cottus petiti | ||||||||||||
| Băcescu & Băcescu-Meşter , 1964 |
The Petit-bullhead ( Cottus petiti ) is a fish from the family of bullhead (Cottidae), exclusively in the source area of the Lez , occurs, a coastal flow in southern France.
features
The petit bullhead is three to five, maximum six centimeters long. Like all bullheads, it has a tadpole-shaped body with a thick head that is relatively small compared to other bullheads. The eyes are high, the gill cover has a strong thorn. The sideline runs down the middle of the body to the base of the tail fin and is interrupted in places. The pectoral fins are fan-shaped, the pelvic fins are on the chest. The second dorsal fin is long, its last limb ray reaches the first rudimentary rays of the caudal fin. This is long and rounded. The last ray of the anal fin is connected to the body for 2/3 of its length by a fin membrane. The fish are scaleless.
- Fin formula : dorsal 1 V – VII, dorsal 2 15–16, anal 11–13, caudal 13–16.
- Vortex: 30.
The petit bullhead is greenish-yellow to blackish, depending on the water in which it lives, and has six brownish spots or bands on its back and sides. The dorsal, thoracic and caudal fins are also spotted. The ventral and anal fin are transparent and unspotted.
Way of life
The Petit-Bullhead lives exclusively in cool karst springs and the resulting, lime-rich, fast-flowing streams. In their living areas there is a constant temperature of 13 to 16 ° C. It occurs there syntopically with minnows and loaches . Their food consists of small, invertebrate animals (river flea shrimp , caddis fly larvae ). Their reproductive behavior is probably similar to that of the bullhead ( Cottus gobio ). The eggs are relatively large with a diameter of 2.1 mm.
literature
- Fritz Terofal: Steinbach's natural guide, freshwater fish. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-80014-296-1
Web links
- Petit-Bullhead on Fishbase.org (English)
- Cottus petiti inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . 2 . Posted by: Crivelli, AJ, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2014.