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Running River Rainbowfish
The Running River rainbowfish (''Melanotaenia'' sp., also known as the Burdekin rainbowfish, Hidden Valley rainbowfish or zig zag rainbowfish) is an undescribed species of rainbowfish found only in Running River, part of the Burdekin River catchment in northern Queensland, Australia. Taxonomy Although discovered in 1982 by Ray Leggett,Unmack PJ (2016) ''Fishes of Sahul'', 30(3): 1025–1032 (September 2016) the species was never formally described as its taxonomy was unclear.Unmack PJ and Hammer MP (2015) ''Fishes of Sahul'', 29(4): 933–936 (December 2015) However, genetic analysis supports the Running River rainbowfish as a distinct species, rather than a colour variety of the eastern rainbowfish. Conservation In the wild, the Running River rainbowfish is confined to a 13 km stretch of Running River, isolated between two gorges. In August 2015, ecologists Peter Unmack and Michael Hammer discovered that eastern rainbowfish had been introduced into the upper section of Ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbowfish
The rainbowfish or Melanotaeniidae is a family of small, colourful freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Madagascar. The largest rainbowfish genus, ''Melanotaenia'', derives from the ancient Greek ''melano'' (black) and ''taenia'' (banded). Translated, it means "black-banded", and is a reference to the often striking lateral black bands that run along the bodies of those in the genus ''Melanotaenia''. Characteristics The Melanotaeniidae is characterised by having their distal premaxillary teeth enlarged. They have a compressed body with the two dorsal fins being separated but with only a small gap between them. There are 3–7 spines in the first dorsal fin while the second has 6–22 rays, with the first ray being a stout spine in some species, the anal fin has 10–30 rays and, again, the first may be a stout spine in some species. The lateral line is either ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
