''Melanotaenia splendida'', the Eastern 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 ...

from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Melanotaeniinae Melanotaeniinae the Australian rainbowfishes is a subfamily of the rainbowfishes of the family Melanotaeniidae. They are a group of small, colourful, freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, islands in Cenderawasih Bay ...

which is found in Australia.

Taxonomy

''Melanotaenia splendida'' is highly variable and although three subspecies have been recognised these have been found to show a wide variety of morphology within each subspecies. These differences are obvious in colouration and in the depth of the body. The three commonly recognised subspecies are: * ''

Melanotaenia splendida inornata ''Melanotaenia'' is a genus of rainbowfish from Australia, Indonesia (West Papua), New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands. Species There are currently 86 recognized species in this genus: * ''Melanotaenia affinis'' ( M. C. W. Weber, 1908) (New G ...

'' (Castelnau 1875) - chequered rainbowfish * '' Melanotaenia splendida splendida'' (Peters 1866) - eastern rainbowfish * ''

Melanotaenia splendida tatei ''Melanotaenia'' is a genus of rainbowfish from Australia, Indonesia (West Papua), New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands. Species There are currently 86 recognized species in this genus: * ''Melanotaenia affinis'' ( M. C. W. Weber, 1908) (New G ...

'' (Zietz 1896) - desert rainbowfish

Distribution

The chequered rainbowfish is found in northern Australia from the Mary River east to the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

and south to the

Jardine River The Jardine River is the largest river of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Course The headwaters of the river rise southwest of Helby Hill in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a north westerly direction parallel ...

, it is also found on some of the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...

. The eastern rainbowfish occurs in rivers east of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

from the Torres Strait Islands and the Cape York Peninsula south to the Dawson River in Queensland. the desert rainbowfish is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...

Habitat and biology

''Melanotaenia splendida'' are normally found close to the surface of the deeper pools in small freshwater streams, they also occur in lakes and reservoirs. These fishes are frequently recorded in large schools and these can be found in water varying from clear to turbid and which may or may not have extensive vegetation. ''M. splendida'' is an omnivore which feeds on filamentous algae, aquatic and terrestrial insects, small crustaceans and other small invertebrates. Like other rainbowfish, this species shows

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Breeding takes place year round and the male and female fish form pairs in which the females releases the eggs and the male fertilises them. 60-70 eggs are laid at each spawning and the golden coloured, round eggs attach to submerged vegetation with an adhesive filament. The larvae hatch after around a week and are around 4mm long and they have a reduced yolk sac and fully formed mouth and

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s. The larvae start to feed after 24 hours.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1919031 splendida Fish described in 1866 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters