New Zealand salmon

New Zealand salmon
Retropinna retropinna
Systematics
Subclass : Real bony fish (Teleostei) Overcohort : Clupeocephala Cohort : Euteleosteomorpha Sub-cohort : Stomiati Order : Smelt-like (Osmeriformes) Family : New Zealand salmon
Scientific name
Retropinnidae
Gill , 1862

The New Zealand salmon (Retropinnidae) are a family of the smelt-like (Osmeriformes). The 7 to 33 centimeters long fish live in fresh water or in brackish water, some species also temporarily in the sea. Their distribution area includes New Zealand , Tasmania , southeast Australia and the Chatham Islands .

features

New Zealand salmon grow to be 7 to 33 cm long. Their bodies are salmon or trout-like. They have round scales (cycloid scales), an adipose fin and a forked caudal fin with 16 branched fin rays. Ploughshare , palatal bone and basibranchial are dentate. A sideline on the torso is missing. In front of the anus in the middle of the abdomen is a horny keel. Pyloric tubes are missing. Only the left gonad is present. Captured New Zealand salmon smell of cucumber .

Internal system

Prototroctes maraena

There are two subfamilies and 3 genera , which together contain 6 species :

Subfamily Prototroctinae

The subfamily Prototroctinae only includes one genus with two species (one of which is extinct). With them, the dorsal fin is above the pelvic fins. The maxillary is toothless. A horny rim surrounds the lower jaw. The fish are 22 to 33 cm long. They have 62 to 72 vertebrae. Your mouth crack extends below the eye. Males develop a spawning rash on scales and fin rays .

• Genus Trout Pike or Australian Grayling ( Prototroctes )
  • Australian trout pike ( Prototroctes maraena ) Günther, 1864
  • New Zealand trout pike ( Prototroctes oxyrhynchus ) Günther, 1870 †

Subfamily Retropinninae

The subfamily Retropinninae includes two genera with four species. Your dorsal fin lies behind the pelvic fins, just before the beginning of the anal fin. The maxillary is sometimes dentate. The fish are 7 to 10 cm long, rarely up to 15. They have 45 to 63 vertebrae.

• Genus Retropinna
  • New Zealand smelt ( Retropinna retropinna ) (Richardson, 1848)
  • Australian smelt ( Retropinna semoni ) (Weber, 1895)
  • Tasmanian smelt ( Retropinna tasmanica ) McCulloch, 1920
• Genus Stokellia
  • Stokell's smelt ( Stokellia anisodon ) (Stokell, 1941)

literature

• Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish. Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6 .
• Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .

Web links

Commons : New Zealand Salmon (Retropinnidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• New Zealand salmon on Fishbase.org (English)