Toxotes lorentzi | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Toxotidae |
Genus: | Toxotes |
Species: | T. lorentzi |
Binomial name | |
Toxotes lorentzi Weber, 1910 | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Protoxotes lorentzi is a tropical freshwater fish found in streams and swamps of the Northern Territory of Australia, Irian Jaya (Indonesia), and Papua New Guinea. [1] [3] [4] It was first named by Weber in 1910, [4] and is commonly known as the primitive archerfish or Lorentz's archerfish. [5] [6]
Protoxotes lorentzi is believed to range in length from 69–150 millimetres (2.7–5.9 in), though specimens reaching 230 millimetres (9.1 in) in length have been observed. [7] P. lorentzi normally has five dorsal spines and is a silvery tan or brown colour, with a dark pectoral base. While bars and spots are distinct features of other members of the genus, T. lorentzi usually has no markings, or else very faint bars on its sides. [2] P. lorentzi usually has three gill rakers on the lower limb of its first branchial arch, but two and four are also possible. It usually has fewer than 38 scales on its lateral line. [2]
Protoxotes lorentzi was described by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber in 1910. [8] It was initially believed that P. lorentzi is the most "primitive" species of archerfish due to its lack of markings and straight dorsal line, a view that Weber endorsed; [2] Gilbert Whitley, who shared this view, reclassified T. lorentzi under the new monotypic genus Prototoxotes which he erected for it in 1950. [9] [10] Later authors initially disputed the assertion that T. lorentzi is more primitive and considered Protoxotes a synonym of Toxotes. [2] However, the first comprehensive analysis that included both DNA sequence data and morphological data supported Whitley's assertion and recommended that this species be classified in Protoxotes given the clear separation and redundancy of Toxotidae and Toxotes in recent classifications. [11]
Like other archerfish, P. lorentzi feeds on terrestrial insects by shooting a stream of water onto low-hanging vegetation at the edges of streams and capturing the insects as they fall into the water. [7] Such insects are believed to make up a significant portion of its diet. [7]
The range of Protoxotes lorentzi includes a handful of areas in the Northern Territory of Australia: the Timor Sea drainage at Yam Creek, the Finniss River, and Sawcut Creek, Deaf Adder Creek, and Baroalba Creek, part of the South Alligator River system. In addition, it is also common in the Fly River Delta. Its range also includes the Balima River and the Merauke River of central southern New Guinea. [7]
Protoxotes lorentzi generally inhabits swamps and the edges of streams with vegetative cover. It is most commonly observed in surface waters. [2] [7]
Because P. lorentzi has wide distribution and no major widespread threats are known, IUCN considers it to be of "Least Concern". [1]
The archerfish or Toxotidae are a monotypic family of perciform tropical fish known for their unique predation technique of "shooting down" land-based insects and other small prey with jets of water spit from their specialized mouths. The family is small, consisting of ten species in a single genus, Toxotes. Most archerfish live in freshwater streams, ponds and wetlands, but two or three species are euryhaline, inhabiting both fresh and brackish water habitats such as estuaries and mangroves. They can be found from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, through Southeast Asia, to Melanesia and Northern Australia.
Scleropages jardinii, the Gulf saratoga, Australian bonytongue, Pearl arowana or northern saratoga, is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia and New Guinea, one of two species of fishes sometimes known as Australian arowana, the other being Scleropages leichardti. It has numerous other common names, including northern saratoga, toga and barramundi. It is a member of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, a (basal) teleost group. Its scientific name is sometimes spelled S. jardini.
The members of the family Percichthyidae are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes.
Eleotridae is a family of fish commonly known as sleeper gobies, with about 34 genera and 180 species. Most species are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but there are also species in subtropical and temperate regions, warmer parts of the Americas and near the Atlantic coast in Africa. While many eleotrids pass through a planktonic stage in the sea and some spend their entire lives in the sea; as adults, the majority live in freshwater streams and brackish water. One of its genera, Caecieleotris, is troglobitic. They are especially important as predators in the freshwater stream ecosystems on oceanic islands such as New Zealand and Hawaii that otherwise lack the predatory fish families typical of nearby continents, such as catfish. Anatomically, they are similar to the gobies (Gobiidae), though unlike the majority of gobies, they do not have a pelvic sucker.
The speckled longfin eel, Australian long-finned eel or marbled eel is one of 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It has a long snake-like cylindrical body with its dorsal, tail and anal fins joined to form one long fin. It usually has a brownish green or olive green back and sides with small darker spots or blotches all over its body. Its underside is paler. It has a small gill opening on each side of its wide head, with thick lips. It is Australia's largest freshwater eel, and the female usually grows much larger than the male. It is also known as the spotted eel.
The Australian smelt is a small, pelagic silvery freshwater fish found in large numbers in waters of the south eastern Australian mainland.
The Danube bleak or Caspian shemaya is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Iran, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Slovakia, Moldova, Greece, Czechia, Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Afghanistan, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The big scale archerfish is a species of fish in the family Toxotidae. It is endemic to the Molucca Islands (Indonesia) and possibly the Philippines. Almost nothing is known about this species and there is only a single confirmed specimen, which likely was collected from Bacan ("Batjan") Islands. It was formerly reported from Western Australia, but this is a separate species, T. kimberleyensis.
Neoarius berneyi, the highfin catfish, Berney's catfish, Berney's shark catfish, or the lesser salmon catfish, is a freshwater sea catfish that is commonly kept in aquariums. The origin of the name Neoarius berneyi is Greek, with the genus name Neoarius coming from the words neos meaning new and arios, meaning warlike or hostile, in reference to the well developed fin spines, and the species name, berneyi, comes from the ornithologist F. L. Berney.
Tarpon are fish of the genus Megalops. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one is native to the Atlantic, and the other to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
The blacktail redhorse is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Moxostoma. The blacktail redhorse occupies North America, being located throughout Mississippi River tributaries on the former Mississippi Embayment, ranging from Southern Kentucky to Galveston Bay in Texas.
The banded archerfish is a brackish water perciform fish of the archerfish genus Toxotes. It is silvery in colour and has a dorsal fin towards the posterior end. It has distinctive, semi-triangular markings along its sides. It is best known for its ability to spit a jet of water to "shoot down" prey. Larger specimens may be able to hit prey 2 to 3 metres away. The banded archerfish may reach the displaced prey within 50 milliseconds of its hitting the water.
Toxotes chatareus, sometimes known by the common names common archerfish, seven-spot archerfish or largescale archerfish, is a species of perciform fish in the archerfish genus Toxotes.
The smallscale archerfish is a perciform fish of genus Toxotes. As its name suggests, the scales of the smallscale archerfish are smaller than those of other archerfish. They reach a maximum length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in). Smallscale archerfish live in the tropical Indo-Pacific region and are potamodromous, moving between fresh and brackish water through their lifetimes.
Toxotes blythii, the clouded archerfish or zebra archerfish, is a perciform fish of genus Toxotes. It is found in rivers and estuaries in Myanmar, ranging from the lower Irrawaddy to the Tenasserim Division, including lower Sittaung and Salween. Unlike some other archerfish, it is restricted to fresh water. This species was formerly thought to be identical to T. microlepis. However, differences in structure and colouration caused the splitting of T. blythii into a new species. It is sometimes seen in the aquarium trade, but is generally rare.
Toxotes kimberleyensis is a species of archerfish found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It was first named by Gerald R. Allen in 2004, and is commonly known as the Kimberley archerfish, largescale archerfish, or western archerfish.
The blackbanded darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is native to the river systems of the southeastern United States where it is found in the states of Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. It lives over sandy or gravelly bottoms in smaller rivers and streams and its color varies depending on the different habitats in which it lives. It feeds on small insect larvae and is itself preyed on by larger fish. It spawns between February and June depending on locality. It is generally a common fish throughout most of its range.
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Ambassis macleayi, commonly known as Macleay's glassfish, Macleay's glass perchlet, Macleay's perchlet, reticulated glassfish, reticulated perchlet, or network perchlet, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Ambassidae. It is native to northern Australia and the trans-Fly River region of New Guinea. It is a fish with a vertically flat, narrow body and a standard length generally between 35 and 45 mm, with large specimens reaching 77 mm (3.0 in) long. It generally eats water fleas and other small invertebrates. This fish is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although it could suffer from habitat degradation due to feral pigs and invasive water plants such as the water hyacinth. The fish is suitable for aquarium use in tanks containing other non-aggressive species.
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