Angelfish (fish)
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Angelfish ( Pterophyllum scalare ) |
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| Pterophyllum scalare | ||||||||||||
| (Schultze in Lichtenstein , 1823) |
The angelfish or sailfish , Pterophyllum scalare (Schultze in Lichtenstein , 1823), is a cichlid from tropical South America.
Occurrence
Sailfish - Pterophyllum scalare in the real sense - are in the Río Ucayali , in the Solimões (Peruvian Amazon), in the Amazon river system of Brazil , in the Rio Negro (except its upper reaches), in the Rio Branco , Rio Madeira , Rio Tapajós , Rio Xingu and in Guyana in Essequibo and Rio Araguaia as well as in French Guiana in the Oyapock . It is a typical inhabitant of tropical rainforest rivers, who predominantly settles there slowly flowing, calm sections of water, bank areas and also the alluvial land.
features
Sailfish have a laterally compressed body with a clearly curved back and stomach line. The dorsal and anal fins begin with very short and end with exceptionally long fin rays , which creates the step-shaped appearance that gives the fish its name, which, viewed as a whole, forms a triangle. This physique not only influences the locomotion in the water. The shape and arrangement of the internal organs is also adapted to the shape of the body. Characteristic are four dark vertical bands, the front of which runs over the eye and the last of which runs along the caudal fin root. Another vertical strip is located between the second and third vertical ligament, partially protruding into the dorsal fin. Depending on the origin of the fish, it ends more or less above the sideline and runs from there, weakly pronounced, into the abdominal region. Sailfish reach overall lengths of up to 15 centimeters and overall heights (dorsal fin to anal fin tip) up to 25 centimeters.
- Fin formula : dorsal XI-XIV / 21-28, anal V-VII / 22-30.
ecology
Kullander names stagnant and slowly flowing bodies of water as habitats that can be densely overgrown or free of plants. Angelfish are found in white water , black water , and clear water . Ladiges has found sailfish under floating grass islands. In Essequibo he found it between sunken dead wood and over jagged rocks overgrown with algae. The diet of the sailfinches consists of small molluscs , insects , insect larvae and small fish, which they hunt down. Sailfish live in associations. For reproduction , pairs are formed, which occupy and defend a spawning area. These are open breeding substrate spawners who, as parents, look after their offspring for a long time and intensively.
Systematics
The sailing boat was first scientifically described by Schultze (in Lichtenstein) in 1823 as Zeus scalaris , not in a scientific document, but in a catalog that was used to sell surplus items from the Zoological Museum of the Royal University of Berlin. Paepke & Schindler (2002) not only determined the actual first descriptor (Schultze instead of, as previously assumed, Lichtenstein), but also the collector, Friedrich Wilhelm Sieber, and the terra typica : lower Amazon near Óbidos , including the lower reaches of the Rio Tocantins at Cameta.
Synonyms : Platax scalaris Cuvier in Cuvier & Vallenciennes, 1831, Plataxoides dumerilii Castelnau, 1855 and Pterophyllum eimekei Ahl, 1928.
Pterophyllum is a combination of pteron = fin, wing, sail and phyllum = leaf. The species name, scalare , means step-shaped and relates to the structure of the dorsal fin and anal fin .
At the moment the genus Pterophyllum Heckel , 1840, consists of three valid species. In addition to Pterophyllum scalare ( sensu lato ) from Pterophyllum leopoldi (Gosse, 1963), which is clearly distinguishable from this species (or better, this species complex ) and from Pterophyllum altum Pellegrin, 1903, to which there are intermediate forms. Further differentiations are to be expected here, which will result in new descriptions.
Importance to humans
As food fish, sailfin fish are of no particular importance. But they have been very popular aquarium fish since their first importation (1906 or 1907, the exact date can no longer be determined) . A whole series of cultivated forms in different colors and also with veil fins emerged.
Aquaristics
Keeping and care
Angelfish should be kept in well-planted tanks that leave enough swimming space. Adult animals can eat smaller fish up to the size of neon. They are peaceful towards larger co-fish, the species does not burrow.
Legal regulation in Austria
In Austria, the minimum requirements for keeping fish are defined in Regulation 486 in Section 7 and its Annex 5. See also the Wikipedia entry ornamental fish .
Especially for angelfish: The animals should be kept together with other fish so that they show their typical behavior. In addition to these other fish, at least five animals of this species must be kept. In addition, the following limit values must be observed:
| value | annotation | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum size of the aquarium | 100 × 40 × 50 | Length × width × height in [cm] |
| Area for the water temperature | 24-30 | Degrees Celsius [° C] |
| Area for the water hardness | 0-15 | Degree of German total hardness [⁰dGH] |
| PH range | 5.0 - 8.0 | Acidity |
| Maximum value of nitrate | 50 | [mg / l] |
Note: The animals may be kept in smaller aquariums for reproduction.
literature
- Paepke, H.-J. (2003): Segelflosser (2nd edition). Westarp Wissenschaften-Verlagsgesellschaft, Hohenwarsleben. ISBN 3-89432-845-2 .
- Reis, RE, SO Kullander and CJ Ferraris, Jr. (2003): Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America . CLOFFSCA. 2003: i-xi + 1-729.
- Stawikowski, R. & U. Werner (1998): Die Buntbarsche Amerikas, Vol. 1. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8001-7270-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schultze in MHC Lichtenstein (1823): Directory of doubles in the Zoological Museum of the Königl. University of Berlin: together with a description of many previously unknown species of mammals, birds, amphibians and fish : ix + 1-118, pl. (Fish pp. 108-118).
- ↑ Paepke, H.-J. and I. Schindler (2002): For the first description of * Pterophyllum scalare * (Schultze in Lichtenstein, 1823) (Pisces, Cichlidae) . Mitt. Mus. Nat.kd Berl., Zool. 177-182.
- ^ Rüdiger Riehl, Hans A. Baensch: Aquariums Atlas . Ed .: Hans A. Baensch. 15th edition. tape 1 . Mergus, Melle 2006, ISBN 3-88244-227-1 , pp. 766 .
- ↑ BGBl 486., 2nd Animal Husbandry Ordinance. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b BGBL II No. 486 Annex 5, minimum requirements for keeping fish. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
