Catadromic Icefish
| Catadromic Icefish | ||||||||||||
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Pseudaphritis urvillii , drawing by Leonard Jenyns from The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Beagle , the undulatus Pseudaphritis shows a kind which today mostly with Pseudaphritis urvillii is seen as synonymous. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Pseudaphritidae | ||||||||||||
| McCulloch , 1929 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Pseudaphritis | ||||||||||||
| Castelnau , 1872 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Pseudaphritis urvillii | ||||||||||||
| ( Valenciennes , 1832) |
The catadromous ice fish ( Pseudaphritis urvillii ) ( Gr .: pseudes = false, aphritis = anchovia ) is a species of Antarctic fish (Notothenioidei) that occurs in southeastern Australia and Tasmania . The fish live mainly in fresh water, but migrate into the sea to spawn ( catadromous fish ).
features
The fish are elongated and reach a maximum length of 36 centimeters, but usually stay at 17 centimeters. They have two clearly separated dorsal fins , the first is short, the second long and is symmetrically opposite the long anal fin . The two dorsal fins are supported by eight spines and 25 soft rays, the anal fin by one sting and 22 soft rays, the caudal fin by 14 main fin rays.
Way of life
The catadrome ice fish lives in rivers and estuaries and hangs out there in slowly flowing water near tree stumps, under overhanging banks and between leaves. The sexually mature animals migrate to the sea near the coast to reproduce from April to August. The catadromous ice fish feeds on insects, crustaceans and molluscs, worms and small fish. When fleeing from predators, it often buries itself in the bottom of the water. The fish have a very good osmoregulation and can tolerate the direct conversion of salt water into fresh water without any signs of stress.
Systematics
The species was previously placed in the ice fish family (Bovichtidae) and is the only one of the Pseudaphritidae family today. Leonard Jenyns described two other species, Pseudaphritis porosus from the Patagonian coast , which is now considered a synonym for Pseudaphritis urvillii , and Pseudaphritis undulatus , which has been synonymous with Eleginops maclovinus .
The systematic position within the Antarctic fish illustrates the following cladogram :
| Antarctic fish |
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literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World. Wiley, New York 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
- ↑ Guido di Prisco, Joseph T. Eastman, Daniela Giordano, Elio Parisi, Cinzia Verde: Biogeography and adaptation of Notothenioid fish: Hemoglobin function and globin-gene evolution. Gene 398 (2007) pp 143-155
Web link
- Pseudaphritis urvillii on Fishbase.org (English)
- Pseudaphritidae on Fishbase.org (English)