White-eye

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White-eye
Systematics
Order : Toothpies (Cyprinodontiformes)
Subordination : Cyprinodontoidei
Family : Anablepidae
Subfamily : Oxyzygonectinae
Genre : Oxyzygonectes
Type : White-eye
Scientific name of the  subfamily
Oxyzygonectinae
Parenti , 1981
Scientific name of the  genus
Oxyzygonectes
Fowler , 1916
Scientific name of the  species
Oxyzygonectes dovii
( Günther , 1866)

The white-eye ( Oxyzygonectes dovii ) is a brackish water fish that is found on the Pacific side of southern Central America. Its distribution area extends from Poneloya in Nicaragua to the Río Salado on the Azuero Peninsula in Panama.

features

The white-eye has an elongated pike shape with a flat back and head and, according to various sources, reaches a length of 15 to 24, possibly even 34 cm. Seen from the side, the head tapers to a point, the gap in the mouth is long, the mouth spatially flat. Seen from above, it is rounded in a semicircle. In juvenile fish the lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw, in adult animals it is the other way around. In both jaws the teeth are arranged in broad bands, the teeth in the inner rows are three-pointed. The eyes are located on the side in the middle of the head and have a striking bright white iris .

The sexes can be differentiated on the sexual papilla in front of the anal fin, which in the male is pointed and curved to the side, while the female has a sexual pouch. In contrast to the other species of the Anablepidae family , the males of the white eyes do not have a gonopodium and the fertilization of the eggs is external.

The dorsal fin, which sits far back, begins behind the attachment of the longer anal fin above the 23rd scale of a central longitudinal row. The pelvic fins reach to the base of the anal fin, the caudal fin is rounded. The number of vertebrae is 28.

The white eye is silvery to bluish in color. The sides of the body of the males have a copper-colored to yellowish sheen, while the fins are yellowish. There are vertical dark stripes on the back of the body. The fins of the females are transparent.

Way of life

The white-eye lives, syntopically with the viviparous toothcarps Poecilia gillii and Poeciliopsis elongata , near the surface in lagoons , mangroves , river mouths and the lower reaches of rivers up to a height of 15 m above sea level. It feeds on debris , algae, and insects. Reproduction only occurs in freshwater. The fish attach their relatively large eggs (2.5–4 mm) to aquatic plants, roots and reeds. The eggs are initially clear and later become cloudy. The fry hatch after 14 to 18 days at a water temperature of 24 ° C.

literature

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