Bronze featherback
Asian flag - knife fish ( Notopterus notopterus )
The Asian flag - knife fish ( Notopterus notopterus ) is a freshwater fish from the family of Old World knife fish ( Notopteridae ). He comes on the Indian subcontinent in the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Krishna, Kaveri and other rivers, as well as in Southeast Asia in the Irrawaddy, Salween, Mae Klong, Chao Phraya, Mekong and all river systems of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java before. On Borneo and the basin of the Red River in North Vietnam, he is missing.
Features
The Asian flag - knife fish is 60 centimeters long, is usually but at a length of 25 cm. The body is laterally strongly flattened, bent the back line. As with all knives fishing the long, grown together with the caudal fin anal fin is the main driving element. The fin has 97-111 fin rays. Pelvic fins are absent. The name derives from the seven to nine fin rays based dorsal fin. More than 200 scales running along the sides of the body in a central longitudinal row. The Vorkiemendeckel has six to eight rows of scales. From the genus Chitala Notopterus to be distinguished by the convex or only slightly concave head profile and the scales on the operculum, which are significantly larger than the body scales at Notopterus while they are all equal in Chitala.
Juveniles are brown and show a length of less than five inches at the whole body, a pattern of dark bands. Adult animals are silvery - gray with numerous gray spots on head, body and fins. The hull top is darker, the iris shines golden.
Way of life
The Asian flag - knife fish lives in clear rivers, lakes, canals and ponds and is also in light brackish water. During the rainy season, in which the propagation takes place, it travels in flooded areas and returns during the dry season in permanent waters. Eggs are laid in small clumps between plants. A 21 to 25 cm long female lays usually 1200-3000 eggs. The night - and night-active fish feed on smaller fish, crustaceans, insects and aquatic plants.
Use
The Asian flag - knife fish is a prized food fish in his homeland.