Results for “fin”

This beautiful rainbow is not often seen in the hobby. It can be identified by the fact that the middle rays in the dorsal and anal fins are longer than the other fin rays. This feature is usually associated with the closely-realated Glossolepis genus of rainbowfish....

Although it is included in the genus Metzia this grouping remains somewhat unresolved in terms of taxonomy and it may contain more than a single genetic lineage. For example, members share a number of characters with the genera Ischikauia Jordan and Snyder 1900, Hemiculterella Warpachowski 1887, and several species of Anabarilius Cockerell 1923, including a bipartite gas bladder, a non-spinous dorsal-fin ray, and a sharp ventral keel between the pelvic-fin insertion and anus.

M. ramirezi is also known by the names 'Ramirez' dwarf cichlid' and 'butterfly cichlid' and is among the more popular dwarf cichlids in the aquarium hobby. As a result, it is produced on a commercial basis in huge numbers and a number of ornamental strains have been developed including 'gold', 'long-finned' (both blue and gold forms; also traded as 'lyre-tail', 'veil-tail' and 'hi-fin'), 'electric/neon blue', 'super neon blue gold' 'pearl/perlmutt' and 'balloon'.

N. binotatus is distinguished from similar-looking congeners such as N. longistriatus and N. ornatus by its unique body patterning consisting very simply of two dark stripes, one running along the dorsal surface and the other from the tip of the snout, through the eye and along the flank. There are usually 1-3 small, vertically-orientated spots extending above the lateral stripe between the pectoral-fin and dorsal fins. These are su...

N. alestes is the only member of the genus in which the barbels are shorter than the head, with additional diagnostic characters as follows: 8-9 branched dorsal-fin rays; 12-14 branched anal-fin rays; 22-23 predorsal scales; body with a pronounced ventral keel.

Like other members of the family Notopteridae this species differs from Gymnotiform knifefish in that its anal and caudal fins are fused together into one long, undulating fin running along the underside of the fish. There is only one other species in the genus. P. congoensis is a smaller, plain brown coloured fish found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is very rare in the hobby. P. afer is also infrequently imported and is one of the rarer knifefish species in the hobby. It can dev...

According to Kottelat (1990) the chief distinguishing characters for the genus are: possession of 9-18½ branched dorsal-fin rays; colour pattern without black basal caudal bar, but with an ocellus at upper base of caudal-fin; upper lip with or without several rows of papillae; lower lip with a broad median interruption and a widened, papillated pad on each side.

For aquarists perhaps more useful are the subtle differences in colour pattern with P. simulans differing from both P. innesi and P. axelrodi in possessing a greener (vs. bluer) lateral stripe which covers more (vs. less) of the eye/head and extends to the caudal-fin base (vs. terminating anterior to caudal-fin base), a lesser (vs. greater) amount of relatively duller (vs. brighter) red pigmentation on the flanks. The taxonomic history of all three species is complicated with earlier authors such as Géry (1960, 1977) ten...

Formerly known as Eutropiellus buffei, this midwater swimming, diurnal catfish is very often sold as "Debauwi catfish". Pareutropius debauwi is a closely related species which is, in fact, seldom imported. Adults of the two species can be distinguished by several characteristics. In buffei there are three lateral stripes along the body, whilst debauwi possesses only one. Buffei also has black spots in the upper and lower parts of the caudal fin, and the fin itself has rounded lobes. Th...

In males the dorsal, anal and caudal have a black subdistal band bordered on either side by bluish iridescent bands, with the inner one significantly thicker. The pelvic fins are iridescent emerald green with a dark blotch at the base and a subdistal dark spot, while the pectoral fins are hyaline.

H. sexmaculata is very similar to H. leonardi but can be told apart since it possesses 2 simple and 12-14 branched pectoral-fin rays (versus 6 simple and 11 branched rays). Both of these species are sometimes misidentified as H. yunnanensis which has 7 simple and 12 branched pectoral-fin rays.

This species occasionally appears in the aquarium hobby, but the trade is largely reliant on commercially-produced 'tiger barbs' of questionable origin. It is distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: lateral line complete; 14 circumpeduncular scales; 21-23+2 scales in the lateral row; dorsal-fin black with red outer band; pelvic fins red.

This species may not yet have appeared in the ornamental trade but it has been collected by a few individuals. It can be told apart from related species from Taiwan by possessing 30-32 longitudinal (lateral) scales vs. 32-39 in other species, and 6-8 scale rows between the origin of the first dorsal-fin and upper pectoral-fin base vs. 9-15 in other species.

This species is relatively rare in the ornamental trade, where it is sometimes confused with its similarly-patterned congeners S. daemon and S. lilith. These three species all possess 1-3 dark blotches on the side of the body and a relatively large ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base, characters that immediately separate them from the remainder of the genus which lack blotches on the body and have a relatively small ocellus on the upper caudal-fin base.

This species is feisty and largely unsuitable for the general community aquarium. This is not to say it must be kept alone, rather that tankmates must be selected with care and proper research. Slow-moving or long-finned species should certainly be omitted because they're likely to struggle with the necessary level of water movement and may end up with nipped fins.

There appears to be some discrepancy between Smith's original description and Kottelat (1990) in that Smith states the fish is a member of a group of species lacking an ocellus at the upper caudal-fin base, whereas Kottelat mentions the presence of 'a black spot at upper extremity of caudal-fin base, surrounded by a whitish area'.

Not a commonly species in the aquarium hobby but sporadically available in shipments of wild fishes from Thailand. Following Kottelat (1990) it's a member of a group of species possessing a complete or near-complete lateral line, 8 ½ branched dorsal-fin rays, 17 branched caudal-fin rays and lacking sexual dimorphism (the latter is not strictly true - see above). Its colour pattern is quite distinctive, howe...

It is most similar to S. macropterus, but differs in absence (vs. presence) of a black spot on the base of the median caudal-fin rays, a higher number of pectoral-fin rays (I,8,i vs. I,7,i), males with somewhat more slender bodies (25.7- 30.5% in SL [range 26.3-28.8% in type series] vs. 30.4-34.6% in SL), an...

A number of sources state that S. brandtii can be identified by the relatively anterior position of the anal-fin origin beneath the first few dorsal-fin rays. However, images of specimens collected from the rio São Francisco, where it is the only member of the genus present, suggest that this is not always the case and this is also supported by the figure from Eigenmann (1915). No recent diagnosis of the species is available.

The fused pelvic fins form a structure normally referred to as the 'pelvic disc', a common feature among gobiids which is used to adhere to rocks and other submerged surfaces. In Sicyopus, as in Stiphodon, this is short-based and attached to the belly only between the fifth pair of fin rays whereas in other sicydiines it's attached between all five rays (Watson, 2005).