Vaillantella maassi
Vaillantella maassi | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Vaillantellidae |
Genus: | Vaillantella |
Species: | V. maassi |
Binomial name | |
Vaillantella maassis | |
Vaillantella maassi (Great emeralder, spiny eel loach, giant scissortail loach, forktail loach) is a species of loach in the Vaillantellidae family, a monotypic family with two other species, Vaillantella cinnamomea and Vaillantella euepiptera. Emeralders (also called long-fin loaches) are from Southeast Asia. The species was described by M. C. W. Weber and de Beaufort in 1912.[1]
Natural history
Great emeralders were eaten in Asia for a long time until people found they were poisonous after several fatalities were experienced.
Kottelat
In 2012, Maurice Kottelat declared this to be a "trimonotype" family.
Diet
These loaches eat insect larvae, small fish (such as the cyprinids of the genus Paedocypris), mosquito larvae and sometimes even young ducks.
Size
This species grows to be about 6 to 10 inches (15 to 23 centimetres) in length.