Overview
Family : Rainbowfishes, blue eyes; Inhabits high altitude headwater tributaries at elevations between 790-1600 m [1]. Is an omnivore and egg laying species, considered a peaceful community fish and prefers the following aquarium conditions: pH=7.8, H=16, 19¦C water temperature ; rock, plant and driftwood cover [2].
Common Names
Click on the language to view common names.
Common Names in English:
Mountain Rainbowfish
Common Names in Finnish:
Vuorisateenkaarikala
Common Names in German:
Gebirgsregenbogenfisch
Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:
蒙特虹銀漢魚
Description
Family Melanotaeniidae
Distribution: northern and eastern Australia and New Guinea and some nearby islands. Body compressed ; dorsal fins narrowly separated, the first with 3-7 spines and the second with 6-22 rays (the first being a stout spine in some species); anal fin with 10-30 rays, the first a stout spine in some species; lateral line absent or weakly developed; scales relatively large, 28-60 in lateral line series; innermost pelvic ray attached to abdomen by membrane along its entire length . Vertebrae 27-38. Males usually more colorful than females. Maximum length about 12 cm.The family Melanotaeniidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes ) and the Order Atheriniformes. It contains 6 genera and 53 species. It may be found in Brackish , and Freshwater environments and is primarily Secondary freshwater. Many members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is carangiform . This family may be found from 0° n to 36° s and 116° w to 154° e. Etymology of this family name : Greek, melan, -anos = black + latin, taenia = stripe
Habitat
Biome: Fresh water . Benthopelagic.
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- Auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Osteichthyes
()
- Huxley, 1880
- Bony Fishes
- Class:
Actinopterygii
()
- Huxley, 1880
- Ray-Finned Fishes
- Subclass:
Actinopterygii
()
- Ray-Finned Fishes
- Infraclass:
Actinopteri
()
- Cohort:
Clupeocephala
()
- Superorder:
Acanthopterygii
()
- Order:
Atheriniformes
()
- Family:
Melanotaeniidae
()
- Rainbowfishes
- Genus:
Melanotaenia
()
- (Richardson, 1843)
- Specific name:
monticola
- Allen, 1980
- Scientific name: - Melanotaenia monticola Allen, 1980
- Specific name:
monticola
- Allen, 1980
- Genus:
Melanotaenia
(
- Family:
Melanotaeniidae
(
- Order:
Atheriniformes
(
- Superorder:
Acanthopterygii
(
- Cohort:
Clupeocephala
(
- Infraclass:
Actinopteri
(
- Subclass:
Actinopterygii
(
- Class:
Actinopterygii
(
- Superclass:
Osteichthyes
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 08-Mar-1994
Similar Species
Members of the genus Melanotaenia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 75 species and subspecies in this genus:
M. affinis (North New Guinea Rainbowfish) · M. affinis pagwi · M. ajamaruensis (Ajamaru Lakes Rainbowfish) · M. angfa (Yakati Rainbowfish) · M. arfakensis (Arfak Rainbowfish) · M. australis (Western Rainbowfish) · M. batanta (Batanta Rainbowfish) · M. boesemani (Boeseman´s Rainbowfish) · M. boesmani (Boeseman's Rainbowfish) · M. caerulea (Blue Rainbowfish) · M. catherinae (Waigeo Rainbowfish) · M. coatesi · M. corona (Corona Rainbowfish) · M. duboulayi (Duboulay´s Rainbowfish) · M. dumasi · M. eachamensis (Lake Eacham Rainbowfish) · M. exquisita (Exquisite Rainbowfish) · M. fluviatilis (Crimson-Spotted Rainbowfish) · M. fluviatilus · M. fredericki (Sorong Rainbowfish) · M. goldiei (Goldie River Rainbowfish) · M. gracilis (Slender Rainbowfish) · M. herbertaxelrodi (Lake Tebera Rainbowfish) · M. inornata (Checkered Rainbowfish) · M. irianjaya (Irian Jaya Rainbowfish) · M. iris (Strickland Rainbowfish) · M. japenensis (Yapen Rainbowfish) · M. kabia · M. kamaka (Kamaka Rainbowfish) · M. kochi · M. lacustris (Lake Kutubu Rainbowfish) · M. lakamora (Lakamora Rainbowfish) · M. maccullochi (Macculloch's Rainbowfish) · M. maculata · M. maculata weber syntype · M. maylandi (Mayland's Rainbowfish) · M. mccullochi · M. misoolensis (Misool Rainbowfish) · M. monticola (Mountain Rainbowfish) · M. mubiensis (Mubi Rainbowfish) · M. neglecta · M. nigrans (Australian Redtailed Rainbowfish) · M. nigricans · M. ogilbii · M. ogilbyi (Ogilby´s Rainbowfish) · M. ogylbi · M. oktediensis (Oktedi Rainbowfish) · M. papuae (Papuan Rainbowfish) · M. parkinsoni (Parkinson's Rainbowfish) · M. parva (Lake Kuromai Rainbowfish) · M. patoti · M. pierucciae (Pierucci's Rainbowfish) · M. pimaensis (Pima River Rainbowfish) · M. pimanensis (Pima River Rainbowfish) · M. praecox (Dwarf Rainbowfish) · M. pygmaea (Pygmy Rainbowfish) · M. rosacea · M. rubripinnis (Red-Finned Rainbowfish) · M. senckenbergianus · M. sexlineata (Fly River Rainbowfish) · M. solata (Northern Rainbowfish) · M. splendida · M. splendida australis (Western Rainbowfish) · M. splendida austrlis · M. splendida fluviatilis · M. splendida inornata (Checkered Rainbowfish) · M. splendida rubrostriata (Red-Striped Rainbowfish) · M. splendida splendida (Eastern Rainbow Fish) · M. splendida tatei (Desert Rainbowfish) · M. sylvatica · M. tatei · M. trifasciata (Banded Rainbowfish) · M. utcheensis · M. vanheurni (Van Heurn´s Rainbowfish) · M. winnicki
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Allen, G.R. (1991). Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
- Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
- Nishimoto, R. T. and J. M. Fitzsimons 1999 Behavioral determinants of the instream distribution native Hawaiian stream fishes. In: Proc. 5th Indo-Pac. Fish Conf., Noumea, 1997 [Séret B. and J.-Y. Sire, eds]. Proc. 5th Indo-Pac. Fish Conf., Noumea, 1997: 813-818. pp. 813-818. In: Séret B. and J.-Y. Sire (eds) Proc. 5th Indo-Pac. Fish Conf., Noumea, 1997.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 20, 2007.
- Costa, Wilson J.E.M. (from FishBase).
- Dyer, Brian S. (from FishBase).
- FishBase 2006.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 24, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Melanotaenia monticola. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org . Downloaded on 20 October 2006.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2496336
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-33984
- Fishbase Species ID: 10500
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 630782
- IUCN ID: 13068
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 6804
Footnotes
- Allen, G.R. (1991). Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea. [back]
- Axelrod, H.R., W.E. Burgess, N. Pronek and J.G. Walls (1991). Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of freshwater aquarium fishes. Sixth edition. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. [back]
