Spottedsail barb
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| Puntius phutunio (Hamilton, 1822) |
The spottedsail barb, dwarf barb, phutuni barb, or pygmy barb, Puntius phutunio, is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Cyprininae sub-family of the Cyprinidae family. It originates in inland waters in Asia, and is found in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It was originally described as Cyprinus phutunio by Dr. Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, and has also been referred to in scientific literature as Systomus phutunio, or Barbus phutunio.
The fish will grow in length up to 3.1 inches (8 centimeters). It is a silvery fish, with three blotches on the body. An additional dark spot on the gill plate is not black, but transluscent, exposing the pink of the gills. Fins are pale orange, slightly darker in the male. Sexes are difficult to recognize, except that the female has a fuller body.
It natively inhabits clear or muddy streams, and rivers, as well as standing waters, with a silty bottom. They live in a tropical climate in water with a temperature range of 72 - 75 °F (22 - 24 °C). It feeds on worms, benthic crustaceans, insects, and plant matter.
The spottedsail barb is of commercial importance in the aquarium trade industry.
The swamp barb is an open water, substrate egg-scatterer, and adults do not guard the eggs. It spawns near dawn between plants near the surface of the water. Eggs hatch in 2 days at 75 °F (24 °C). The name phutunio comes from a native name, pungti phutuni.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- "Puntius phutunio". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Dr. William T. Innes (1966). Exotic Aquarium Fishes, 19th Edition. Maywood, New Jersey: Metaframe Corporation, Division of Mattel, Inc., page 250.
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