Peacock butterfly
| Peacock butterfly | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Poecilia picta | ||||||||||||
| Regan , 1913 |
The Pfauenaugenkärpfling or Schwarzbindenkärpfling ( Poecilia picta , Syn. : Acanthophacelus melanzonus , Lebistes picta , Micropoecilia picta ) is a fish of the subfamily of livebearing carp in the family Poeciliidae . It occurs from Trinidad via the east of Venezuela , the Demerara River in Guyana to the Amazon estuary in Brazil , and lives there mainly in brackish water near the coast , but also goes far inland in soft fresh water. In its area of distribution it lives sympatric with the very similar guppy ( Poecilia reticulata ).
features
Female peacock peacocks reach a length of 4 to 5.5 centimeters, males are 2 to 3 centimeters long. Overall, the tooth carp resembles the wild forms of the guppy in its external appearance. Males are smaller, slimmer and more colorful, but very variable in their drawing than the females, who are especially stronger in their waist and have a dark gestation mark in the anal area. In addition, the males have a gonopodium , i.e. an anal fin that has been transformed into a mating organ . The dorsal fin is supported by six, the anal fin of the females by nine fin rays. Females are olive-gray and show the black spot in the upper third of the body, which is typical of the Micropoecilia subgenus . The rear half of the body of the males is bluish with black and orange dots and spots. The sides of the body and dorsal fin are multicolored, the dorsal fin is provided with a black border and an eye patch . The drawing pattern varies greatly between animals from different distribution areas.
Like Poecilia branneri , the peacock butterfly shows behavior known as Schnatterbalz during courtship , which is shown in the lightning-fast opening and closing of the mouth and is reminiscent of the cackling of geese .
Aquaristics
The peacock peacock was first introduced to Germany in 1939 as Micropoecilia melanzonus , but it was not as popular in the aquarium hobby as the guppy. Later the species was mainly imported as a wild guppy. Today there are stable aquarium populations.
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
- Hans A. Baensch , Rüdiger Riehl : Aquariums Atlas. Volume 2, Mergus Verlag, Melle 1997, ISBN 3-88244-014-7 .
- Hans A. Baensch, Rüdiger Riehl: Aquariums Atlas. Volume 5, Mergus Verlag, Melle 1997, ISBN 3-88244-113-5 .
- Dieter Gentzsch: Micropoecilia picta (Regan, 1913). Peacock-eyed carp, black-and-white carp. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 650.
Web links
- Peacock peacock on Fishbase.org (English)