Melanotaeniinae the Australian rainbowfishes is a

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 ...

of the

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 ...

es of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Melanotaeniidae 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 ...

. They are a group of small, colourful,

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

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 ...

found in northern and eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, islands in

Cenderawasih Bay Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Guine ...

the

Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's Southwest Papua province. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding ...

in Indonesia and in Madagascar. The largest Australian rainbowfish genus, ''

Melanotaenia ''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 ...

'', 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''.

Description

Australian rainbowfish are usually less than in length, with some species measuring less than , while one species, ''Melanotaenia vanheurni'', reaches lengths of up to . They live in a wide range of freshwater habitats, including rivers, lakes, and swamps. Although they spawn all year round, they lay a particularly large number of eggs at the start of the local rainy season. The eggs are attached to aquatic vegetation, and hatch seven to 18 days later. Rainbowfish are omnivorous, feeding on small crustaceans, insect larvae, and algae. Australian rainbowfish are popular aquarium fish along with ''

Pseudomugil ''Pseudomugil'' is a genus of fish in the subfamily Pseudomugilinae endemic to Australia and New Guinea, where they are found in freshwater rivers and streams and bodies of brackish water. Description Members of this genus have slender bodies a ...

'' blue-eyes, which are another small, colourful fish found in a similar range and habitats. In the wild, some rainbowfish populations have been severely affected by the aggressive introduced

eastern mosquitofish The eastern mosquitofish (''Gambusia holbrooki'') is a species of freshwater fish, closely related to the western mosquitofish, ''Gambusia affinis''. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The eastern mosquitofish ...

(''Gambusia holbrooki''),

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 ...

cichlids, and pollution.

Classification

Melanotaeniinae is divided into seven genera: * Subfamily Melanotaeniinae Gill, 1894 Rainbowfishes ** Genus ''

Chilatherina ''Chilatherina'' is a genus of rainbowfishes that is endemic to freshwater in New Guinea. Species There are currently 11 recognized species in this genus: * '' Chilatherina alleni'' Price, 1997 * '' Chilatherina axelrodi'' G. R. Allen, 1979 (Ax ...

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1914 ** Genus '' Glossolepis'' M. C. W. Weber, 1907 ** Genus ''

'' T.N. Gill, 1862 ** Genus ''

Cairnsichthys ''Cairnsichthys'' is a genus of rainbowfishes from the subfamily Melanotaeniinae. The genus is endemic to freshwater streams in eastern Queensland in north eastern Australia. The genus was designated as a monotypic genus in 1928 by John T. Nichol ...

'' G. R. Allen, 1980 ** Genus ''

Rhadinocentrus The ornate rainbowfish (''Rhadinocentrus ornatus'') is a species of rainbowfish endemic to an area in eastern Australia, where it is native to coastal regions and sandy offshore islands in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It is t ...

'' Regan, 1914 ** Genus '' Iriatherina'' Meinken, 1974 ** Genus ''

Pelangia ''Pelangia mbutaensis'' is a species of rainbowfish endemic to West Papua in Indonesia. This species was described by Gerald R. Allen in 1988 from types collected from the Lake Mbuta Basin which lies about 8 kilometers northwest of Etna Bay in ...

'' G. R. Allen, 1998

As aquarium fish

Australian rainbowfish usually do best with tropical community fish, such as

tetra Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA; formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio), a European standard for a trunked radio system, is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by go ...

guppie The guppy (), also known as millionfish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish and one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae and, like almost all ...

s, and other rainbowfish. However, two males may sometimes fight at breeding season if there are not enough females. Australian rainbowfish usually eat floating flakes in captivity, because in the wild they will often eat insects floating on the surface.

References

{{reflist Melanotaeniidae