The banded rainbowfish (''Melanotaenia trifasciata''), also known as the Jewel rainbowfish, Goyder River rainbowfish, three-striped sunfish or regal rainbowfish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

found in the northerly regions of

North Australia North Australia can refer to a short-lived former British colony, a former federal territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory. Colony (1846–1847) A colony of North Austr ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. an adult Banded Rainbowfish can reach a stranded length of 15 cm -12 cm with a deep body usually exceeding 1/3 of their body length, like most Rainbowfish banded Rainbowfish vary in

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

depending on where they were collected, but all variety's have a distinct dark mid-lateral band and bright red/yellow

Dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...

, and caudal fins.

Behavior

The banded rainbowfish is an active

shoaling In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are shoaling, and if the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are schooling. In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely. Ab ...

fish, that typically occurs in the surface and mid-level areas of fresh water environments. As seasonal spawners the banded rainbowfish breed intermittently throughout the year, males compete with one another for

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

and female attention in contests where they compare body coloration and size buy swimming side by side whilst extending their fins too appear larger. After mating females can produce between 200-500 eggs which they affix to vegetation using adhesive threads after which it leaves, the male will continue to guard their territory and by extension the eggs until they hatch 6–7 days later.

Habitat and diet

The banded rainbowfish lives in a wide variety of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, such as rivers, lagoons and slow moving streams and prefers areas with strong water flow, sandy substrate, dense sub surface vegetation and submerged logs and branches. Banded rainbow fish are opportunistic

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

s, the bulk of their diet being

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s such as aquatic

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

arachnid Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroon ...

s and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s as well as

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

and terrestrial insects that have drowned on the water surface such as green ants.

Etymology

The name ''Melanotaenia trifasciata'' was proposed by

Hialmar Rendahl Carl Hialmar Rendahl (born Jönköping 26 December 1891; died Stockholm 2 May 1969) was a Swedish zoologist, cartoonist and painter. He is most famous in Sweden for his authorship of ''Fågelboken'', the "bird book" which sold 60,000 copies. Ren ...

in 1922 while describing the species; the name Trifasciata means "three-banded", however live individuals do not typically have more than a single "band". This discrepancy is due to the original museum specimen described by Hialmar, which had its pattern altered by being preserved in spirits.

In captivity

Rainbowfish are relatively new to the aquarium hobby, and were up until recently kept by only a small group of

hobbyists A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

they have since seen a significant rise in popularity owing to their generally colorful patterns, energetic behavior and ease of care, the banded Rainbowfish itself is exemplary of these traits a hardy and peaceful shoaling fish, they make easy editions to most peaceful community aquariums and can tolerate a wide range of water parameters, like most Rainbowfish the banded Rainbowfish should be kept in an

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

with a lid as they are capable of jumping out.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6409478 banded rainbowfish Freshwater fish of Australia banded rainbowfish