''Monodactylus argenteus'' is a species of fish in the family

Monodactylidae Monodactylidae is a family of perciform bony fish commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with disc-shaped bodies and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, scales occur on their d ...

, the moonyfishes. Its common names include silver moonyfish, or silver moony,Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors
''Monodactylus argenteus''.
FishBase. 2017. butter bream, and diamondfish.''Monodactylus argenteus''.
Fishes of Australia. It is native to the western Pacific and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

s, including the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

, and associated estuaries, such as the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...

. This species reaches a maximum length of about 27 centimeters. It is bright shiny silver with yellowish edges to the fins. The dorsal and anal fins have black tips. Juveniles have more yellow coloration and are distinguished by two vertical black bands.Kang, C., et al. (2012)
Effects of low environmental salinity on the cellular profiles and expression of Na, K-ATPase and Na, K, 2Cl 2 cotransporter 1 of branchial mitochondrion-rich cells in the juvenile marine fish ''Monodactylus argenteus''.
''Fish Physiol Biochem'' 38 665-678. Fishes_Mada

This species occurs in a wide variety of habitat types, including the open ocean, brackish waters, and the freshwater habitat of rivers. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

it can be found in harbors and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environme ...

around piers. Its ability to survive in a wide range of

salinities Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

makes it a

model organism A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workin ...

in the study of salinity tolerance.Yang, S., et al. (2015
Comparisons of two types of teleostean pseudobranchs, silver moony (''Monodactylus argenteus'') and tilapia (''Oreochromis mossambicus''), with salinity‑dependent morphology and ion transporter expression.
''J Comp Physiol B''185 677-693. Juveniles are especially tolerant to salinity changes, easily maintaining homeostasis in variable environments such as estuaries. Although the silver moony displays territorial behavior, the species can be kept in saltwater aquaria and is easy to rear in captivity. It can remain solitary or form schools. It is a

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrate ...

and planktivore. The

myxozoa Myxozoa (etymology: Greek: μύξα ''myxa'' "slime" or "mucus" + thematic vowel o + ζῷον ''zoon'' "animal") is a subphylum of aquatic cnidarian animals – all obligate parasites. It contains the smallest animals ever known to have lived. O ...

n parasite ''

Kudoa monodactyli ''Kudoa'' is a genus of Myxozoa and the only genus recognized within the monotypic family Kudoidae. There are approximately 100 species of ''Kudoa'' all of which parasitize on marine and estuarine fish. ''Kudoa'' are most commonly known and stud ...

'' was first described from and named after this fish.Gunter, N. L., et al. (2006)
Characterization of ''Kudoa monodactyli'' n. sp.(Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) from the muscle of ''Monodactylus argenteus'' (Teleostei: Monodactylidae) from Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.
''The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology'' 53(5), 374.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Monodactylidae Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus