Red rainbowfish

Salmon-red rainbowfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Atheriniformes
Family: Melanotaeniidae
Genus: Glossolepis
Species: G. incisus
Binomial name
Glossolepis incisus
M. C. W. Weber, 1907

The red rainbowfish[1] or salmon-red rainbowfish (Glossolepis incisus) is a species of rainbowfish belonging to the family Melanotaeniidae.

Description

Female red rainbowfish

The males are bright red and with age grow a high back. The females are olive brown in colour. Their colours change depending on their mood, but subordinate males do not display bright colours. They grow up to 15 cm (5.9 in) in size, but often attain a smaller size of around 12 cm (4.7 in).[2][3]

Breeding

They are an egg scattering species and they scatter their eggs among clumps of vegetation. The eggs take about 7 days to hatch.[3]

Nutrition

Glossolepis incisus is an omnivore and in captivity it will eat most common commercial aquarium foods readily. It may be slightly more carnivorous than most of the Australian rainbowfish.[3]

Conservation status

Male of Glossolepis incisus

The IUCN Red List classed Glossolepis incisus as vulnerable. The Red List indicates that this is because of the rapidly increasing human population around this fish's only natural habitat.[1]

Distribution

This species is endemic to Lake Sentani and its tributaries near Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia [1][3](a range it shares with the related Chilatherina sentaniensis).

References


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