Pseudomugil

Pseudomugil
Forktail blue-eye(P. furcatus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Atheriniformes
Family: Pseudomugilidae
Genus: Pseudomugil
Kner, 1865

Pseudomugil is a genus of small blue-eyes endemic to Australia and New Guinea, where they are found in freshwater rivers and streams and bodies of brackish water. They are small slender fish characterised by their blue eyes and two dorsal fins.

Taxonomy

Defined by Austrian naturalist Rudolf Kner in 1865, the genus has been placed in the Atherinidae, the rainbowfish family Melanotainiidae or its own family Pseudomugilidae, with consensus now on the last option. The type species is the Pacific blue-eye (Pseudomugil signifer)[1]

Species

There are currently 15 recognized species in this genus:[2]

Description

Members of the genus Pseudomugil have slender bodies and two dorsal fins. They are usually sexually dimorphic.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Saeed, B.; Ivantsoff, W.; Allen, G.R. (1989). "Taxonomic Revision of the Family Pseudomugilidae (Order Atheriniformes)". Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 40 (6): 719–87. doi:10.1071/MF9890719.
  2. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). Species of Pseudomugil in FishBase. June 2012 version.

External links

Bibliography