The Malabar danio (''Devario malabaricus'') is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

belonging to the minnow family (

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

). Originating in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and the west coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the fish has been circulated throughout the world through the

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 ...

fish trade. It grows to a maximum length of rarely exceeds in a home aquarium. The Malabar danio is found in

climates in a wide variety of waters, from mountain streams to small pools, but it prefers flowing waters. It is an active, schooling fish that prefers to be in groups. Its diet consists of

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 ...

s and plant matter. Malabar danios are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

, and

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

in shallow water after heavy rains among the plants growing on the bottom. An adult will spawn around 200 light-orange, sticky eggs that will hatch in one to two days. The fry will be free-swimming after the fifth day. The parents must be removed from aquaria to prevent them from eating the eggs. The species was earlier incorrectly considered a synonym of ''

Devario aequipinnatus The giant danio (''Devario aequipinnatus'') is a tropical fish belonging to the minnow family Cyprinidae. Originating in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the west coast of India, this species grows to a maximum length of 4-6 inches (10-15 cm), making ...

'', which is a valid name for a different species.

References

External links

''Devario malabaricus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q426618 Devario Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka Fish described in 1849 Taxa named by Thomas C. Jerdon

See also

References

External links