Scalars
| Scalars | ||||||||||||
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Angelfish ( Pterophyllum scalare ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pterophyllum | ||||||||||||
| Heckel , 1840 |
The scalars or Segelflosser ( Pterophyllum ( Greek : pteron "sail" or pteryx "wings"; phyllon "sheet")) are a three types genus of cichlid (Cichlidae) whose members in the hunting and the most popular and well known freshwater aquarium fish include .
We know Pterophyllum scalare (up to 15 cm in length) from the Amazon region with its tributaries as far as Peru and eastern Ecuador ; from the area of the Orinoco with tributaries the high sailfish (also called “real” angelfish) Pterophyllum altum (up to 18 cm in length) The smallest representative, Pterophyllum leopoldi , occurs in the upper reaches of the Amazon (Rio Solimões).
features
Angelfish have a disc-shaped, laterally strongly flattened body, a high dorsal and anal fin and elongated pelvic fins. They become 12 to 17 cm long and reach heights (including the fins) of 20 to 30 cm. Males grow larger than females. The color is shiny silver with three to four broad, dark transverse bands that extend into the unpaired fins.
- Fin formula : dorsal XI – XIII / 19–29, anals V – VII / 19–32, caudals 16–17.
- Scale formula : 35–40 (mLR)
Way of life
All species of this genus are territorial and still live in shoals as juveniles, later families are formed with pronounced partner loyalty. Angelfish are brood care and belong to the open breeders . They usually spawn on a previously cleaned leaf of a broad-leaved plant. The clutch size is several hundred to a thousand eggs. The parent fish defend the breeding area from other fish, pick unfertilized and fungal eggs from the clutch and use their fins to set the water in front of the larvae and eggs in motion. The free-swimming juvenile fish are led as a school by their parents and are further defended.
species
- High sailfin ( Pterophyllum altum Pellegrin, 1903 )
- Leopold's angelfish ( Pterophyllum leopoldi (Gosse, 1963) )
- Angelfish ( Pterophyllum scalare (Schultze in Lichtenstein , 1823) )
swell
- Günther Sterba (Ed.), Gert Brückner: Encyclopedia of Aquaristics and Special Ichthyology. Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen u. a. 1978, ISBN 3-7888-0252-9 .
- Claus Schaefer: Pterophyllum. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. 2 volumes. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , Volume 2, pp. 836 f.
further reading
- Hans-Joachim Paepke: Sailfish . 4th, supplemented edition, Westarp Wissenschaften, Hohenwarsleben 2003, ISBN 978-3-8943-2845-0 .
- Jürgen Schmidt: Scalars . Bede-Verlag, Ruhmannsfelden 2003, ISBN 978-3-8986-0068-2 .
Web links
- Angelfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Scalars at ITIS