Vaillantella maassi

Vaillantella maassi
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.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.