Tail light kite raft

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Tail light kite raft
Gnathocharax steindachneri.jpg

Taillight Dragonfin ( Gnathocharax steindachneri )

Systematics
Otophysa
Order : Tetras (Characiformes)
Family : Acestrorhynchidae
Subfamily : Heterocharacinae
Genre : Gnathocharax
Type : Tail light kite raft
Scientific name of the  genus
Gnathocharax
Fowler , 1913
Scientific name of the  species
Gnathocharax steindachneri
Fowler , 1913

The taillight kite finfish ( Gnathocharax steindachneri ) is a freshwater fish from the order of the characiformes (Characiformes). It occurs in tropical South America in the Amazon river basin , in the upper Orinoco region and in Guyana . The scientific name of the genus was given because of the long maxillary (upper jaw bone) ( Gr .: "Gnatho" - = jaw, "charax" = tip), the specific epithet steindachneri in honor of the Austrian zoologist Franz Steindachner .

features

The tail light kite fin is 5 to 6 centimeters long. Its body is elongated and strongly flattened on the sides. Females are taller and more compact, males significantly slimmer. A short adipose fin is present. The pectoral fins are elongated, the large caudal fin is forked and has red and black dots at the base. The fins are yellowish, the rest of the body silvery or transparent with a dark band along the sides. The eyes are large, the upper part of the iris is red. In females ready to spawn, the blackish eggs can be seen as a dark spot above the anal fin. Because of the widespread distribution of the fish, there are different color variants.

The tail-light kite-fin fish feeds mainly on approach food (insects that have fallen on the surface of the water).

literature

  • Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
  • Axel Zarske: Gnathocharax steindachneri. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 418 f.

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