Honeycomb macropod
| Honeycomb macropod | ||||||||||||
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Honeycomb Macropod ( Belontia hasselti ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Belontia hasselti | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1831) |
The honeycomb macropod ( Belontia hasselti ) is an Asian freshwater fish from the group of labyrinth fish (Anabantoidei) that is found on the Malay Peninsula , in Singapore, east of the Barisan Mountains on Sumatra and in the southwest of Borneo . The species may have disappeared in western Java .
features
Male honeycomb macropods reach a maximum length of 20 cm, females stay a little smaller with a maximum of 17.5 cm. The fish have an elongated oval body; Males are slimmer than females and their unpaired fins are larger and longer. Their coloring is a solid gray-brown. Each scale has a dark border, creating a honeycomb-like pattern that is more pronounced in the males than in the females. In sleep, in stressful situations or when agitated, the fish show dark transverse bands, in the males the scale centers can also become deep black.
- Fins formula : Dorsal XVI-XX / 10-13, Anal XV-XVIII / 11-13, pectoral 11-13, Ventral I / 5, caudal 1-16-1.
- Scale formula : mLR: 30–32.
- Branchiostegal rays : 6.
Way of life
The honeycomb macropod lives in standing and slowly flowing waters with clear water. For reproduction, the species builds a foam nest on the surface of the water, in which 500 to 700 slightly yellowish eggs with a diameter of 1.5 mm are laid. During spawning, the fish show their dark transverse bands and the female turns light. The male wraps around the female and the fish turn so that the female's belly is directed towards the surface of the water. The eggs rise and are only then collected with the mouth and placed in the foam nest. The male guards the foam nest until the young fish hatch and swim free and no longer tolerates the female in their vicinity. The fry have a noticeable eye spot on the back of the body .
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Systematics
The honeycomb macropod was first scientifically described in 1831 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier under the name Polyacanthus hasselti . The island of Java was given as the type location . In 1923, the honeycomb macropod became a type of the genus Belontia , which was introduced by the American zoologist George Sprague Myers . In addition to the honeycomb-tailed macropod, the genus only includes the Ceylon macropod ( Belontia signata ) found in Sri Lanka .
supporting documents
- ↑ belontia hasselti in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2019. Posted by: Low, BW, 2018. Retrieved on November 5 of 2019.
- ↑ Belontia hasselti on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ a b c Hans-Joachim Richter: The book of the labyrinth fish. Verlag J. Neumann-Neudamm, 1983, ISBN 3-7888-0292-8 . Page 55 and 56.
- ↑ Belontia hasselti in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
- ↑ Belontia in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
- ↑ Belontia signata on Fishbase.org (English)