Devario auropurpureus

Devario auropurpureus

Devario auropurpureus ( Latin: " aureus " = golden, " purpureus " = purple ) is a South Asian freshwater fish from the subfamily of danios ( Danioninae ). It is endemic in Burma Inle Lake and adjacent waters.

Features

Devario auropurpureus is ten inches long and has a very elongated, laterally strongly flattened body. Contrasting the fish are highly variable. The basic color is bluish to olive green, the sides of the body are patterned with 14 short blue transverse bands. The spaces between the transverse bands are golden. The sides of the head iridescent strong. The belly is whitish, the fins colorless except for a few black dot rows along the fin rays. The fins of mature males are bright yellow to greenish. The author of the first description, the Scottish zoologist Nelson Annandale described specimens with strong red back. Dorsal and the anal fins are much larger compared to each other. A belly keel is present.

Way of life

Devario auropurpureus lives in surface oriented in flocks on the shores of Inle Lake and surrounding ponds and swamps. It feeds mainly on caddis and mayflies and the larvae of these insects. The water of its habitat is relatively hard. In aquariums held fish show only a pale color.

The IUCN classifies the species as endangered ( Endangered ). Pollution, the decline in lake surface as a result of droughts, the catch to aquarium purposes and the introduction of invasive species are considered as the main reason for the vulnerability of the Art

System

The species was described in 1918 by Annandale as Barilius auropurpureus, then assigned in 1980 by Howes of the newly established genus Inlecypris and placed in the genus devario 2009.