| Rainbow shark, red-finned shark, ruby shark | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Epalzeorhynchos |
| Species: | E. frenatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Epalzeorhynchos frenatum (Fowler, 1934) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The rainbow shark, Epalzeorhynchos frenatum, is a popular freshwater community-tank aquarium fish of the Cyprinidae family. It is also variously known as the ruby shark, red-fin shark, red-finned shark, rainbow sharkminnow, green fringelip labeo, whitefin shark and whitetail sharkminnow.[1][2][3] Unlike true sharks, which belong to the Chondrichthyes ("cartilagenous fishes") lineage, the rainbow shark is an Actinopterygiian ("ray-finned fish").
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Rainbow sharks have elongated, dark-black and greenish bodies. They also can be light orange body wise with dark red fins.They also come in an albino variety which has a white body and bright orange fins.[4] The snout is pointed. The abdominal area is flat. The fins possess red to orange-red coloration. The linear area from the gill cover, the eye, and the mouth has a characteristic brief stripe. Compared to females, male rainbow sharks have thinner bodies with black lines along the tailfins. Males also have brighter coloration. They can grow up to 6 inches (15 cm) long with an average life span ranging from 4 to 6 years.[1][2][3]
Rainbow sharks are species native to the basins of Mekong, Chao Phraya, Xe Bangfai and Maeklong in Thailand in Southeast Asia. They are also found in Indonesia. They live in water with sandy bottoms.[1][4]
Rainbow sharks are tank-bottom and aquarium-surface cleaners. Being bottom-level and mid-level dwellers, they consume leftover fishfood. They are known to be territorial, and aggressive to their own species. If kept with their own kind or relatives, threat displays and fighting is likely to occur. This fighting behavior involves head-and-tail butting, and also biting.. A large rainbow shark will continuously chase a smaller rainbow shark until the smaller one dies, especially in confined environments like aquaria. This makes breeding difficult. Provision of hiding places and hollowed decors such as plants or artificial cave-like and tunnel-like aquatic ornaments minimize this typical behavior. Due to this behavioral characteristic among its own kind, rainbow sharks are not recommendable to the new aquarist. Keeping them with relatives such as red-tailed sharks, bala sharks and black sharks should be avoided.[1][2][3]
An adult rainbow shark thrives in a 55-gallon sized tank with water at the neutral pH range (6.5 to 7.0 pH), with temperature kept between 22 to 26 °C (72 to 79 °F), and water hardness maintained at 2 to 15 dH. They must have this much space as they sometimes swim around quickly. A single rainbow shark is normally mixed with other community fish of similar size.[1][2][4]
Rainbow Sharks usually reach a maximum length of 6 to 7 inches.
Rainbow sharks are compatible with barbs and rainbowfish, which are upper-tank and middle-tank dwellers. They can also live with danios, loaches, plecos, and gouramis.[1][2][4]
Rainbow sharks are non-picky herbivorous and omnivorous eaters but are primarily consumers of algae in the form of tablets, wafers and flakes. They also eat livefood such as insect larvae, Tubifex worms, periphyton, crustaceans, phytoplankton, zooplankton and aquatic insects. Diet also include lettuce and spinach.[1][3] They will also eat frozen bloodworms.
No actual breed sequence has been documented. Although known to be egg-layers, reproducing rainbow sharks are difficult in an aquarium setting.[1][5]
The albino red-fin shark (Epalzeorhynchos munense) or albino rainbow sharkminnow, is a variety of rainbow sharks with a white body and red fins.[1][6] The Epalzeorhynchos munense closely resemble Epalzeorhynchos frenatum in temperament and appearance, thus they share the same common names in the aquarium industry.[7]