Spindle tetra
| Spindle tetra | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acestrorhynchus microlepis |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Acestrorhynchinae | ||||||||||||
| Eigenmann , 1912 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Acestrorhynchus | ||||||||||||
| Eigenmann & Kennedy , 1903 |
Spindle tetra ( Acestrorhynchus : size : akestra = needle, rhyngchos = pine) are a genus of freshwater fish from the order of the tetra . Their distribution area is in northern South America in the flow areas of the Amazon and the Orinoco . Three species also live in the Rio São Francisco , and in the system of Río Paraná , Río Paraguay and Río de la Plata . The fish live mainly near the banks and in lakes, the smallest species are found in the small rivers and streams of the Amazon region called igarapés .
features
Acestrorhynchus species grow to be 3.5 to 40 centimeters long. They have a pike-like, elongated body covered with relatively small scales and a large, deeply split mouth. They are predatory fish that specialize in fish food. The teeth on the premaxillary (front part of the upper jaw), the rear part of the maxillary (upper jawbone) and the dental (lower jawbone) consist of large, conical fangs. Some species have smaller or tiny conical teeth on the ectopterygoid and mesopterygoid. When the mouth is closed, the first infraorbital covers the maxillary. On the premaxillary there is an extension of the lateral line organ .
The dorsal fin stands behind the center of the body and is closer to the caudal fin than the head, the anal fin is sickle-shaped.
species
There are 15 types:
- Acestrorhynchus abbreviatus (Cope, 1878)
- Acestrorhynchus altus (Menezes, 1969)
- Acestrorhynchus apurensis (Toledo-Piza y Menezes, 1996)
- Acestrorhynchus britskii (Menezes, 1969)
- Acestrorhynchus falcatus (Bloch, 1794)
- Acestrorhynchus falcirostris (Cuvier, 1819)
- Acestrorhynchus grandoculis (Menezes y Géry, 1983)
- Acestrorhynchus heterolepis (Cope, 1878)
- Acestrorhynchus isalineae (Menezes y Géry, 1983)
- Acestrorhynchus lacustris (Lütken, 1875)
- Acestrorhynchus maculipinna (Menezes y Géry, 1983)
- Acestrorhynchus microlepis (Schomburgk, 1841)
- Acestrorhynchus minimus (Menezes, 1969)
- Acestrorhynchus nasutus (Eigenmann, 1912)
- Acestrorhynchus pantaneiro (Menezes, 1992)
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World . John Wiley & Sons, Chichester 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Spindle tetra on Fishbase.org (English)