Mercer's tusked silverside

Dentatherina Merceri is a small marine fish that occurs from the Philippines on the Moluccas and New Guinea to the Trobriand Islands and the coast of northeastern Australia.

Features

Dentatherina Merceri is slender and reaches a length of 5 cm. Two dorsal fins are clearly separated between them are 8-12 dorsal scales. The first dorsal fin is supported 5-8 fin rays, the second 12 to 14 soft rays. The anal fin, which faces the second dorsal fin is symmetrical, supported by a fin spines and 14 to 16 soft rays. The tail fins stick is very slim. In a medium scale longitudinal row to count 40 to 43 scales, 7-9 in a transverse row. The number of Branchiostegalstrahlen is 5

The parasphenoid has great lateral outgrowths that extend below the eye sockets. The maxilla has a front spade -shaped extension, the premaxilla ( premaxilla ) a downward extension. A lip- sided, lying in front of the teeth band along the half premaxilla forms a cylindrical bag that extends just below the edge of the premaxilla to the ramus of the dentary.

Way of life

He lives neritisch in the well -exposed areas of shallow water around islands and coral reefs. Apart from the larval biology of the species is largely unknown. Probably it is an important food source for larger species.

System

Dentatherina Merceri is the only species of the genus Dentatherina and the subfamily Dentatherininae. He was assigned by the authors of the first description, first the Old World ears fish ( Atherinidae ), but then recognized as a sister species of fish fillet phallus ( Phallostethidae ). Fishbase assigns the style today in a separate family, the Dentatherinidae a, Joseph S. Nelson, author of the standard work Fishes of the World, is the subfamily Dentatherininae in the Phallostethidae and thus makes the throat phallus fish, now Phallostethinae to a subfamily of Phallostethidae.