Silver fin blade
| Silver fin blade | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Silver fin leaves ( M. argenteus ) over dead hard corals off Madagascar . |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Monodactylus argenteus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) | ||||||||||||
The silver fin blade ( Monodactylus argenteus ) is a fish from the family of the fin blades (Monodactylidae). Silverfin leaves live gregariously and form large schools with their conspecifics.
Occurrence
This fish has its natural range in the mangrove belts and other brackish water and coastal marine biotopes in the Red Sea , the Persian Gulf and the tropical Indo-Pacific . Occasionally, however, silverfin leaves penetrate estuaries , e.g. B. in the Mekong Delta , and stay for a short time in fresh water . In the north, the species occurs as far as the Japanese Yaeyama Islands , east to Samoa and south to New Caledonia and Australia.
features
Silver fin blades reach a body length of 25 centimeters. They do not exhibit gender dimorphism ; that is, males and females cannot be distinguished from one another externally. Its body is disc-shaped, a little longer than it is high, strongly flattened at the sides and colored silver. The dorsal and caudal fin, and sometimes the anal fin, are yellowish, the tips of the dorsal and anal fin are blackish or sooty. The front edge of the anal fin is black. Young fish show two bow-shaped black bands on the head and front body. The first runs through the eye, the second extends from the beginning of the dorsal fin to the beginning of the anal fin.
The eye diameter is larger than the length of the mouth. The mouth is small and directed upwards. The jaws are covered with small, conical teeth that are arranged in rows. The anterior rays of the dorsal and anal fin, which lie above or below the center of the body, are elongated, with the elongated anal rays being longer than the dorsal fin rays. The posterior edges of the dorsal and anal fin are concave. The caudal fin is slightly indented. Ventral fins are only rudimentary or can be completely absent in adult fish. The body, head and the unpaired fins are covered by small scales.
- Fins formula : dorsal VII – VIII / 27–31, anal III / 27–32, petoral 17, ventral I / 5.
- Scale formula : mLR 55–60.
Aquaristics
Silver fin leaves are repeatedly offered as freshwater fish in pet shops. However, species-appropriate keeping is not possible in the long term in fresh water. Although they can get by here for a short time, they depend on brackish water for their well-being. Accordingly, they should only be kept in a brackish pool. They can also tolerate seawater, but keeping them in a coral (fish) tank is not recommended. On the one hand, the fin blades are superior to merciless eaters and "normal" coral fish, on the other hand, their high food turnover results in high water pollution. They also eat green fodder.
They also reach a height that makes them unsuitable for the home aquarium of the usual size, especially since they should be kept in a swarm of at least six to eight animals. If you want to keep these fish, you should have an aquarium with a length of at least 250 cm and a volume of 1400 l. Since no plants can thrive in a basin of the type described, a powerful filter system is required in addition to the large basin.
literature
- Kent E. Carpenter & Volker H. Niem: The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 5. Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae). Rome, FAO. 1998, ISBN 92-5-104587-9
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Silverfin Blade on Fishbase.org (English)