Seba fin blade
Seba fin blade | ||||||||||||
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![]() Monodactylus sebae , aquarium shot. |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Monodactylus sebae | ||||||||||||
( Cuvier , 1829) |
The Seba fin blade ( Monodactylus sebae , syn .: Psettias sebae ), also called the African fin blade , is a fish from the family of the fin blades (Monodactylidae) and the only species of the family in the Atlantic . It occurs on the coast of West Africa from the Canary Islands and Senegal to Angola .
features
The Seba fin blade reaches a maximum length of 25 cm, but usually remains at 15 cm. The fish have a very high body, the height is enhanced by the wide, extended, vertical fins (dorsal and anal fin) that are pointed at the top and bottom. The color of the fish is silvery, the upper half of the body is slightly yellow-brown, the unpaired fins are yellowish to orange. Three to five vertical, dark bands are drawn across the body, three of which are clearly visible. One blindfold, one wide bandage from the tip of the dorsal fin over the flanks to the tip of the anal fin and one around the caudal fin root. The bandage is clearly visible in younger animals and becomes weaker with increasing age. However, uniformly dark juveniles and color changes from golden yellow with dark banding to a completely black color were also observed. African fin blades show no sexual dimorphism ; that is, males and females cannot be distinguished from one another externally.
- Fin formula : dorsal VIII / 32–36, anal III / 37, petoral 17, ventral I / 5.
- Scale formula : mLR 50.
Way of life
The Seba fin blade lives in larger swarms, which can contain several hundred animals, in mangroves , estuaries, shallow bays and on shipwrecks in the sea, more rarely in brackish water and briefly also in fresh water. It feeds on zooplankton , small fish and shrimp and can live for over ten years ( Wilhelma Aquarium , Stuttgart).
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Seba fin blade on Fishbase.org (English)