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Tiger barb | |
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Tiger barb schooling | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Cyprinidae |
Subfamily: | Barbinae |
Genus: | Puntigrus |
Species: | P. tetrazona |
Binomial name | |
Puntigrus tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855) | |
Synonyms | |
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The tiger barb or Sumatra barb (Puntigrus tetrazona), [2] is a species of tropical cyprinid fish. The natural geographic range reportedly extends throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia, with unsubstantiated sightings reported in Cambodia. [3] Tiger barbs are also found in many other parts of Asia, and with little reliable collection data over long periods of time, definite conclusions about their natural geographic range versus established introductions are difficult. Tiger barbs may sometimes be confused with Puntigrus anchisporus , Puntigrus navjotsodhii, or Puntigrus partipentazona, which are similar in appearance, the only differences being the slightly different stripe pattern and the number of scales these fish have. [4]
The tiger barb can grow to about 7–10 centimeters (2.8–3.9 inches) long and 3–4 centimeters (1.2–1.6 inches) wide, although they are often smaller when kept in captivity. Some can grow to around 13 centimeters as well. Native fish are silver to brownish yellow with four vertical black stripes and red fins and snout. The green tiger barb is the same size and has the same nature as the normal barb, but has a green body. The green tiger barb, often called the moss green tiger barb, can vary considerably in how green it looks; to some people, it looks nearly black. Albino barbs are a light yellow with four barely visible stripes.
Tiger barbs have been reported to be found in clear or turbid shallow waters of moderately flowing streams. They live in Indonesia, Borneo, tropical climates and prefer water with a 6.0–7.5 [5] pH, a water hardness of 5–19 dGH, and a temperature range of 77 – 82 °F or 25 – 27.8 °C. Their discovery in swamp lakes subject to great changes in water level suggests a wide tolerance to water quality fluctuations. Their average lifespan is 7 years. When exposed to decreased temperature levels, the Tiger barb fish experiences a change in body color. The male fish tend to display a bright red color in the dorsal fin, ventral fin, caudal fin, and snout. When the water temperature drops to 21 °C, both the male and the female fish were observed to have a decayed body color. When the temperature decreases even further to 19 °C, their distinct stripes even appear to be dimmed.
The tiger barb is one of over 70 species of barb with commercial importance in the aquarium trade. Of the total ornamental fish species imported into the United States in 1992, only 20 species account for more than 60% of the total number of specimens reported, with tiger barbs falling at tenth on the list, with 2.6 million individuals imported. (Chapman et al. 1994). Barbs that have been selectively bred to emphasize bright color combinations have grown in popularity and production over the last 20 years.[ when? ] Examples of colour morphs (not hybrids) of tiger barb include highly melanistic green tiger barbs that reflect green over their black because of the Tyndall effect, gold tiger barbs and albino tiger barbs.
The tiger barb, an active shoaling fish, is usually kept in groups of six or more. They are often aggressive in numbers less than five, and are known fin nippers. [6] [7] Semi aggressive fish form a pecking order in the pack which they may extend to other fish, giving them a reputation for nipping at the fins of other fish, especially if they are wounded or injured. They are thus not recommended for tanks with slower, more peaceful fishes such as bettas, gouramis, angelfish and others with long, flowing fins. [6] They do, however, work well with many fast-moving fish such as danios, platys and most catfish. When in large enough groups, however, they tend to spend most of their time chasing each other and leave other species of fish alone. [8] They dwell primarily at the water's mid-level. One of the best tankmates for the tiger barb provided there is considerable space is the clown loach, which will school with the tiger barbs and act as they do, and the tigers act as the loaches do. Tiger barbs do best in soft, slightly acidic water. [6] The tank should be well lit with ample vegetation, about two-thirds of the tank space. These barbs are omnivorous, and will consume processed foods such as flakes and crisps, as well as live foods. They are relatively greedy with their food consumption and can become aggressive during feeding time. Tiger barbs seem more susceptible than other species to cottonmouth (columnaris), a bacterial infection.
The tiger barb usually attains sexual maturity at a body length of 2 to 3 centimeters (0.79 to 1.18 inches) in total length, or at approximately six to seven weeks of age. The females are larger with a rounder belly and a mainly black dorsal fin, while the males have a bright, red nose with a distinct red line above the black on their dorsal fins. The egg-layers tend to spawn several hundred eggs in the early morning in clumps of plants. On average, 300 eggs can be expected from each spawn in a mature broodstock population, although the number of eggs released will increase with the maturity and size of the fish. Spawned eggs are adhesive, negatively buoyant in freshwater and average 1.18 ± 0.05 mm in diameter.
Tiger barbs have been documented to spawn as many as 500 eggs per female (Scheurmann 1990; Axelrod 1992). Females can spawn at approximately two week intervals (Munro et al. 1990).
Once spawning is finished, they will usually eat any of the eggs they can find.
Interspecific and intraspecific hybridization is done to achieve different colors and patterns to satisfy market demand for new tiger barb varieties. Gold and albino tiger barbs are examples of commercially produced fish based on recessive xanthic (yellow) and albino genes. These are not hybrids. GloFish, the brand of genetically-modified fluorescent fish, sell tiger barbs in various fluorescent colors. [9]
The tinfoil barb is a tropical Southeast Asian freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae. This species was originally described as Barbus schwanenfeldii by Pieter Bleeker in 1853, and has also been placed in the genera Barbodes and Puntius. The specific epithet is frequently misspelled schwanefeldii.
Barbodes semifasciolatus, the Chinese barb, is a species of cyprinid fish native to the Red River basin in southeast Asia where they occur in fresh waters at depths of 5 metres (16 ft) or less. The captive variant popularly known as the gold barb or Schuberti barb is an extremely popular aquarium fish.
The rosy barb is a subtropical freshwater cyprinid fish found in southern Asia from Afghanistan to Bangladesh.
The cherry barb is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka, and introduced populations have become established in Mexico and Colombia. The cherry barb was named Puntius titteya by Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 1929. Synonyms include Barbus titteya and Capoeta titteya.
The fiveband barb is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish from Southeast Asia. This species is restricted to blackwater streams and peat swamps in northwestern Borneo and possibly Peninsular Malaysia, but it has often been confused with the more widespread, closely related D. hexazona, which is similar except that it lacks the black spot at the rear base of the dorsal fin seen in D. pentazona.
The black ruby barb or purplehead barb is a tropical cyprinid fish endemic to Sri Lanka, where it occurs in forested streams from the Kelani basin to the Nilwala basin. They are found in streams on hills around 1000 ft in elevation. The brightly colored population introduced to Mahaweli at Ginigathena, Sri Lanka, is said to have diminished in number due to the aquarium export trade.
Pterophyllum is a small genus of freshwater fish from the family Cichlidae known to most aquarists as angelfish. All Pterophyllum species originate from the Amazon Basin, Orinoco Basin and various rivers in the Guiana Shield in tropical South America. The three species of Pterophyllum are unusually shaped for cichlids being greatly laterally compressed, with round bodies and elongated triangular dorsal and anal fins. This body shape allows them to hide among roots and plants, often on a vertical surface. Naturally occurring angelfish are frequently striped transversely, colouration which provides additional camouflage. Angelfish are ambush predators and prey on small fish and macroinvertebrates. All Pterophyllum species form monogamous pairs. Eggs are generally laid on a submerged log or a flattened leaf. As is the case for other cichlids, brood care is highly developed.
The bronze corydoras, also known as the green corydoras, bronze catfish, lightspot corydoras or wavy catfish, is a species of freshwater fish in the armored catfish family, Callichthyidae, often kept as an aquarium fish. It is widely distributed in South America on the eastern side of the Andes, from Colombia and Trinidad to the Río de la Plata basin; however, as presently defined it is a species complex and a taxonomic review is necessary. It was originally described as Hoplosoma aeneum by Theodore Gill in 1858 and has historically also been referred to as Callichthys aeneus.
The red-tailed black shark, also known as the redtail shark, red tailed shark, and redtail sharkminnow, is a species of tropical freshwater fish in the carp family, Cyprinidae. It’s named after its shark like appearance and movement, as well as its distinctive red tail. Despite its name, it is more closely related to carp. It is endemic to streams and rivers in Thailand and is currently critically endangered. However, it is common in aquaria, where it is prized for its deep black body, and vivid red orange tail. These are moderately sized tropical aquarium fish who are active benthic swimmers. They are omnivorous but are willing to scavenge if the opportunity arises. They are known for their activity as well as their temperament towards other fish. The red-tailed black sharks seen in the aquarium trade today are all captive bred.
The dwarf gourami is a species of gourami native to South Asia.
The Arulius barb is a tropical cyprinid fish native to the Kaveri River basin of south east India. Other common names include Tamiraparani barb, Silas barb and longfin barb.
The croaking gourami is a species of small freshwater labyrinth fish of the gourami family. They are native to still waters in Southeast Asia and are distributed worldwide via the aquarium trade. Croaking gouramis are capable of producing a "croaking" noise using their pectoral fins.
Puntigrus partipentazona, the Dwarf Tiger Barb, is a species of cyprinid fish native to Southeast Asia where it is found in the Mekong, Mae Klong, and Chao Phraya basins of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, and coastal streams of southeast Thailand and Cambodia where it occurs in streams and impoundments with dense weed growth. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is frequently misidentified as the similar Puntigrus tetrazona.
The pygmy gourami, also known as the sparkling gourami, is a freshwater species of gourami native to Southeast Asia.
The dwarf corydoras, dwarf catfish, tail spot pygmy catfish, or micro catfish is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Corydoradinae of the family Callichthyidae. It originates in inland waters in South America, and is found in the Amazon River and Paraguay River basins in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The specific epithet hastatus means with a spear, in reference to the spearhead-like spot on the tail root.
Hemigrammus erythrozonus, commonly known as the glowlight tetra, is a small tropical fish from the Essequibo River, Guyana, South America. It is silver in colour and a bright iridescent orange to red stripe extends from the snout to the base of its tail, the front of the dorsal fin being the same color as the stripe. Other fins are silver to transparent. The glowlight tetra is a peaceful, shoaling fish. It is larger than the neon tetra, and its peaceful disposition makes it an ideal, and popular, community tank fish. It should be kept with similar sized, non-aggressive species. Hemigrammus gracilis is a senior synonym. The red-line rasbora of Malaysia and Indonesia has markings and coloring very similar to H. erythrozonus, but is a member of family Cyprinidae, not a close relative.
The thick-lipped gourami is a species of gourami native to Southeast Asia, and is a popular aquarium fish.
The rainbow shark is a species of Southeast Asian freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae. It is also known as the ruby shark, red-fin shark, red-finned shark, rainbow sharkminnow, green fringelip labeo, whitefin shark and whitetail sharkminnow. It is a popular, semi-aggressive aquarium fish. Unlike true sharks, which belong to the Chondrichthyes lineage, the rainbow shark is an actinopterygiian.
The honey gourami is a species of gourami native to India and Bangladesh.
The Odessa barb is a species of cyprinid fish known from Central Myanmar, where it is known to occur in an artificial pond above the Anisakan Falls and also from the lower Chindwin River. For many years it has been known to the aquarium hobby, where it has frequently been confused with the less colourful ticto barb, but it was only described scientifically in 2008.