Polycentridae
| Leaffish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Monocirrhus polyacanthus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Polycentridae T. N. Gill, 1858 |
Leaffishes are small freshwater fishes of the Polycentridae family, from South America.
They usually have large heads, cryptic colors and very large protractile mouths. Those features, along with their peculiar movements help them to catch fairly large prey for the size of their bodies, including small fish, aquatic insects and other invertebrates.
Their odd leaf-like appearance make them interesting fishes for aquarium hobbyists. That is likely because of their unique lifestyle, hanging around in the upper story of the tank imitating the leaves that commonly fall in temperate rivers where it typically lives.
They are extremely agile hunters, capable of consuming prey within a quarter of a second.
Genera and species
- Genus Monocirrhus
- Monocirrhus polyacanthus Heckel, 1840 (Amazon leaffish)
- Genus Polycentrus
- Polycentrus jundia Coutinho & Wosiacki, 2014 [1]
- Polycentrus schomburgkii Müller & Troschel, 1849 (Guyana leaffish)
References
- ↑ Coutinho, D.P. & Wosiacki, W.B. (2014). "A new species of leaffish Polycentrus Müller & Troschel, 1849 (Percomorpha: Polycentridae) from the rio Negro, Brazil" (PDF). Neotropical Ichthyology 12 (4): 747–753. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20140046.
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