Titicaca Orestias
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| Orestias cuvieri Valenciennes, 1846 |
The Titicaca Orestias (Orestias cuvieri), also known by its native name Amanto, is an extinct freshwater killifish from the genus Orestias, a group of fish which is endemic to the Lake Titicaca and other Altiplano lakes in the Andes. With a body length of 22 cm it was the largest member within that genus.
Its mouth was nearly turned upwards and therefor the flat head had a dished shape. The head took nearly one third of the entire body length. The upperside was greenish-yellow to umber. The lower jaw was black. They had scales which were oddly light coloured at their centre. The scales of the young were blotched.
The Amanto became extinct with the introduction of the bass by Americans. The introduction to the evasive species lead to extinction of most fish in Lake Titicaca. The bass had no natural enemies and reproduced quickly in the lake. Documentation records can the found in the Peruvian Republic.
[edit] References
- Day, D., 1981, The Doomsday Book of Animals, Ebury Press, London.
- Harrison, I.J. and Stiassny, M.L.J. 1999. The Quiet Crisis. A preliminary listing of the freshwater fishes of the world that are Extinct or “Missing in Action". In: R.D.E. MacPhee (ed.) Extinctions in Near Time, pp. 271-331. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
- Huber, J.H., 1996. Killi-Data 1996. Updated checklist of taxonomic names, collecting localities and bibliographic references of oviparous Cyprinodont fishes (Atherinomorpha, Pisces).. Société Française d'Ichtyologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 399 p.
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