Arikah Map

Danionin

(Redirected from Esomus)

iDanionins
Danionin:Danio rerio — zebra danio
Danio rerio — zebra danio
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Danioninae
Genera

Chela
Danio
Danionella
Devario
Esomus
Inlecypris
Microrasbora
Parachela
Sundadanio

The Danionins are small minnow-type fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae, mostly in the genera Danio and Devario (Some species were previously in the genus formerly known as Brachydanio). They are native to the fresh waters of southeast Asia, but many species are brightly coloured, and are available as aquarium fish worldwide. Danios tend to have horizontal stripes and long barbels, Devarios tend to have vertical bars and short rudimentary barbels, if barbels are present at all. A number of the species have only been recently discovered, in remote inland areas of Laos and Myanmar and do not yet have scientific names. The phrase Danionins is used to describe all the Danio species which include fish within the genera Danio, Devario, Chela, Esomus, Inlecypris, Parachela and probably also Danionella, Microrasbora and Sundadanio. Tanichthys is often regarded as a Danionin however there is no scientific basis for this. The Danionins can be classed as a subfamily Danioninae which is increasingly gaining credibility as a distinct subfamily from Rasboriniae within the Cyprinidae family.

All Danionins are egg scatters and breed in the rainy season in the wild. They are generally active swimmers occupying the top half of a tank and are carnivores, living on insects and small crustaceans in the wild, although they will eat just about any type of aquarium food. They will not, however, generally eat plants or algae.

Although boisterous and liable to chase each other and other fish, they are good community fish and will not generally attack each other or other fish, although they occasionally nip fins, more by accident than design and will, like most fish, eat eggs and any fish small enough to fit into their mouths.

They are best kept in a tank long enough for their active swimming, preferably with a current from a power filter (or at least airstone) as they often live in fast flowing streams in the wild. Generally this also results in them being sub tropical with temperatures of 20 to 22 degrees Celsius (low seventies degrees Fahrenheit) often being fine, however they are good jumpers and a tight fitting lid is recommended.



Contents

Common names given to Danionin species

Since 2004 many new Danionins have been discovered which do not yet have scientific names and many other species, previously known only to the scientific fraternity have become available in Aquarist Shops. This has predictably led to total confusion as to the naming of some fish, with some species having up to five different common names in use and some common names bein used for up to four different species. As a result all Danionin common names known to be in use are listed on a separate page:

Species, listed in order of scientific name, categorised by genus

Danios

The species remaining in the Danio genus comprise most of the Danionins familiar to aquarists. They have two pairs of long barbels and are generally characterised by horizontal stripes (with the exception of the Glowlight Danio and Black Barred Danio which have vertical bars. In size they range from 4 cm/ 1.75 in) to 15 cm/ 6 in).

Frequently used common names are given for reference, however if the common name you are looking for does not appear, click on it on the section above for more details

Devarios

The Devarios comprise some Danionins familiar to aquarists. Generally (but not all) larger fish than Danios, they have short barbels (if present at all) and generally have deeper bodies than Danios with species having vertical stripes present (as well as horizontal). In size they range from 5 cm/ 2 in) to 15 cm/ 6 in).


Little known Devarios

Little is known about the following Devario species, however there is some information about them at the Fishbase Devario index(Fishbase: Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2005 version)

Tanichthys

Not strictly speaking a Danionin but widely regarded as one, this genus has its own Wikipedia page. Click on Tanichthys for more information about these fish.


Esomus

A genus comprising the Flying Barbs, they are closely related to the Danio genus and are distinctive for their extremely long barbels.

Chela

A closly related genus to Devario

Parachela

Closely related to Chela and Devario


Inlecypris

A genus closely related to Devario comprising two smallish barred fish from Lake Inle in Myanmar.


Other Danionin genera

The following genera of tiny fish are thought to be Danionins closely related to Danio and Esomus, but too little is known about them to confirm this.


Danionella

A genus comprising two tiny, recently discovered fish, Danionella translucida is the smallest known freshwater fish

Microrasbora

The genus name means "small Rasbora", however these fish appear to be more closely related to the danios than rasboras. There has been speculation that Microrasbora erythromicron may be transferred to the Danio genus but this now seems unlikely

Sundadanio

A genus with only one fish within, the genus was created after the axelrodi species was transferred from the Rasbora. Axelrodi resembles a tiny Rasbora

Danionins renamed or wrongly identified











See also


References

Categories


Cold-water aquarium fish | Danios | Fishkeeping | Fish of South East Asia

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