Indostomus | |
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I. paradoxus in an aquarium | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
Suborder: | Gasterosteoidei |
Family: | Indostomidae Prashad & Mukerji, 1929 |
Genus: | Indostomus Prashad & Mukerji, 1929 |
Type species | |
Indostomus paradoxus Prashad & Mukerji, 1929 |
Indostomus is a genus of small fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. [1] It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the order Gasterosteiformes, modern analyses place the Indostomids within the order Synbranchiformes, related to the spiny eels and swamp eels. [2] [3]
Indostomus was first proposed as a genus in 1929 by the Indian zoologists Baini Prashad and Dev Dev Mukerji when they described Indostomus paradoxus, [4] giving its type locality as north of the Indawgyi Lake near Nyaungbin in Upper Burma. [5] As the same time they also classified this new genus in the new monotypic family Indostomidae. [6] Indostomidae was classified within the order Gasterostiformes, placed in the suborder Gasterosteoidei. Phylogenetics have, however, shown that Gasterostiformes was paraphyletic with the Gasterosteoidei not being sister to the Syngnathoidei and being more closely related to the Zoarcoidei, but that the inclusion of the Indostomidae in the Gasterosteoidei rendered that taxon paraphyletic. [2] However, in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World Indostomidae was still included in the Gasterosteoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes [7] but other phylogenetic studies have classified the family within the monotypic suborder Indostomoidei within the order Synbranchiformes. [3]
Indostomus species are all incredibly small, on average reaching 3 cm in length at maximum. Their bodies are armored and thin, tapering towards the back, and ending in a small, fan-shaped tail. They are sexually dimorphic, with mature females outwardly showing the presence of eggs with a broader, fuller abdomen, and, in the case of Indostomus crocodilus, mature males have white bands along the edges of the dorsal, anal, and ventral fins.
Indostomus species show a clear preference for slow moving and stagnant freshwater wetlands, streams, ponds, and oxbow lakes, including both clearwater and blackwater habitats. Indostomus are often found around aquatic plant growth, algae, and decaying organic material such as leaf litter and branches. Sympatric fishes include danionins, Dario , and gouramis.
Indostomus are micropredatory fish, predating on small aquatic insects, crustaceans, and worms. In an aquarium setting, Indostomus will often refuse prepared foods, only eating very small live or frozen foods such as copepods, Artemia, Daphnia, or Moina .
Indostomus will spawn in very small caves and crevices, such as in reeds, bamboo, or very small lengths of plastic piping. Individual males will select a spawning site, and guard the eggs and nest until the fry are free swimming and disperse. [8]
The three currently recognized species in this genus are: [9]
Indostomus paradoxus, was discovered in the 1920s in Lake Indawgyi in Myanmar. In the 1990s, two other species were discovered and placed into the genus Indostomus. [10] Indostomus crocodilus from Thailand, and Indostomus spinosus from Mekong River basin. In 2001, I. tiliosi was listed as a possible new species, but has not yet been officially described.
Agonidae is a family of small, bottom-dwelling, cold-water marine fish. Common names for members of this family include poachers, Irish lords, sea ravens, alligatorfishes, starsnouts, hooknoses, and rockheads. They are notable for having elongated bodies covered by scales modified into bony plates, and for using their large pectoral fins to move in short bursts. The family includes about 59 species in some 25 genera, some of which are quite widespread.
Synbranchiformes, often called swamp eels, is an order of ray-finned fishes that are eel-like but have spiny rays, indicating that they belong to the superorder Acanthopterygii.
Gasterosteoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes that includes the sticklebacks and relatives, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes.
Rhamphocottidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. The species in this family occur in the North Pacific Ocean.
Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marine, though some species are known to live in fresh or brackish waters. The various species of this family are known informally as stonefish, stinger, stingfish and ghouls. Its species are known to have the most potent neurotoxins of all the fish venoms, secreted from glands at the base of their needle-like dorsal fin spines. The vernacular name, stonefish, for some of these fishes derives from their behaviour of camouflaging as rocks. The type species of the family is the estuarine stonefish.
Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere.
Pholidae is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, known as gunnels, in the scorpaeniform suborder Zoarcoidei. These are fishes of the littoral zone and are mainly found in North Pacific Ocean, with two species found in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
The scaled sculpins, Icelus, are a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. Most of the fishes in this genus are found in the northern Pacific Ocean but they also occur in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Emmelichthyidae is a small family of small to medium-sized marine ray-finned fishes known commonly as rovers, bonnetmouths or rubyfishes.
The Trichodontidae, or sandfishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes from the order Scorpaeniformes. The species in this family are found in the North Pacific Ocean.
Macrognathus is a genus of eel-like fish of the family Mastacembelidae of the order Synbranchiformes.
Aulorhynchidae, the tube-snouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Gasterosteoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The Korean sandlance is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Hypoptychidae. The Korean sandlance is the only species in this monotypic family and genus and is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Cryptacanthodes is a genus of is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the monogeneric family Cryptacanthodidae, commonly referred to as wrymouths. Three of the four species are found in the Pacific Ocean with one species native to the western Atlantic Ocean where they are benthic fishes, tunneling through soft substrates. It is currently the only known genus in its family.
Hexagrammos is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Hexagrammidae, the greenlings. These fishes are found in the north Pacific Ocean.
Parasphaerichthys is a genus of gouramies known only from streams and freshwater pools in the Irrawaddy basin of Myanmar. They are the small gouramies that, depending on the exact species, reach up to 1.9–5 cm (0.7–2.0 in) in length.
The Anabantiformes, collectively known as Labyrinth fish. are an order of air-breathing freshwater ray-finned fish with two suborders, five families and having at least 207 species. In addition, some authorities expand the order to include the suborder Nandoidei, which includes three families - the Nandidae, Badidae and Pristolepididae - that appear to be closely related to the Anabantiformes. The order, and these three related families, are part of a monophyletic clade which is a sister clade to the Ovalentaria, the other orders in the clade being Synbranchiformes, Carangiformes, Istiophoriformes and Pleuronectiformes. This clade is sometimes referred to as the Carangaria but is left unnamed and unranked in Fishes of the World. This group of fish are found in Asia and Africa, with some species introduced in United States of America.
Synbranchinae is a subfamily of swamp eel, consisting of six of the ten genera in the family Synbranchidae. The remaining genus, the monotypic Macrotrema is the only one in the other subfamily Macrotreminae. The subfamily occurs in the Neotropics, Afrotropics and Asia.
Luciocephalinae is a subfamily of the gourami family Osphronemidae. The members of this subfamily differ from the other groups within the gourami family by having a reduced number of rays supporting the branchiostegal membrane, five rather than six, and in the possession of a median process of the basioccipital which reaches the first vertebra and which has an attachment to the Baudelot's ligament.
Jordaniidae is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.