Ornate paradisefish
| Ornate paradisefish | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Osphronemidae |
| Genus: | Malpulutta Deraniyagala, 1937 |
| Species: | M. kretseri |
| Binomial name | |
| Malpulutta kretseri Deraniyagala, 1937 | |
The ornate paradisefish or spotted gourami, Malpulutta kretseri, is a species of gourami endemic to Sri Lanka. It inhabits shallow, slow-flowing streams in forested areas shaded with plentiful vegetation near the edges and a substrate covered by leaf litter. It is a carnivore, preying on plankton, fish fry, and the larvae of insects. They can reach a length of 4 cm (1.6 in), though most are only around 2 cm (0.79 in). This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.[2]
References
- ↑ Pethiyagoda, R. 1996. Malpulutta kretseri. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 March 2014.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Malpulutta kretseri" in FishBase. February 2014 version.