''Glossolepis dorityi'', the Grime rainbowfish, is a species of
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 lar ...
native to the
Grime River
The Grime River is a river in northern New Guinea, in Papua (province), Papua Provinces of Indonesia, province, Indonesia.West Papua.
Distribution and habitat
The species is known only from two lakes in the Grime river system. It was last caught in 2008, and may now be extinct in the wild, due to the threat of
aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
and competition with
non-native species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
of
tilapia
Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...
and
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
. Captive bred individuals can be found in 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 ...
trade, however.
The locality in which the species is found is a
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
, covered with small round lakes. The fish are more abundant where the aquatic vegetation is dense. There has been extensive habitat modification due to an expanding human population.
Description
Individuals of ''Glossolepis dorityi'' are greenish, with orange stripes between regular rows of large scales. The stripes are especially prominent during courtship. Males have deeper bodies, and females lack the stripes between scale rows. The species can grow up to in length.
Biology and behaviour
The species is
schooling
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
, and feeds on various plants and insects. During breeding, pairs of fish come together on the riverbed. After the young hatch, they are abandoned. The juvenile fish are 4mm long, and feed on microscopic inveterbrates and plants until they mature.