Dr. Glen Whisson, Aqua Research and Monitoring Services, Australien
Info
Leptatherina presbyteroides are small, slender schooling fishes with a translucent silvery to greenish dorsum, a broad silvery to light pinkish or brownish median stripe, silvery undersides, a dusky snout tip, and a large eye, with the eye diameter larger than the snout length.
These spikefish inhabit open sandy areas and seagrass beds, e.g., from Zostera capricorni, in sheltered coastal waters, shallow bays, estuaries, and are often found in the lower parts of estuaries.
Leptatherina presbyteroides feeds fairly high up in the water column and probably consumes planktonic crustaceans such as calanoid and harpacticoid copepods, terrestrial insects, larvae of bivalves, and foraminifera.
The body is long, slender, with two small, widely separated dorsal fins, the snout is short, and the mouth is large and slightly protruding,
The jaws reach in front of the eyes, the teeth are very small.
The fish body is translucent, pale to dark green on top, silvery underneath, the median stripe is quite broad, silvery or faint pink to dark brown.
The snout has fine dark speckles.
Leptatherina presbyteroides comes in swarms of tens of thousands stay near the water's edge, where they feed on both bottom-dwelling and planktonic prey. The schools are sometimes mixed with another common species, the spikefish Atherina microstoma, although this species tends to live in the less saline areas of estuaries.
The spikefish family is a large group of small, slender fish with two dorsal fins, Instead of the lateral line that most fish species have, spikefish have its silver or reddish stripe down the side.
They are mainly known as baitfish and play an important ecological role in the food chain, being prey for pelagic fish such as the fathead mackerel (Caranx ignobilis) and also for seabirds.
Synonyms:
Atherina presbyteroides Richardson, 1843
Atherina tamarensis Johnston, 1883
Atherinichthys edelensis Castelnau, 1873
Atherinichthys obscurus Castelnau, 1875
Atherinosoma microstoma lincolnensis Whitley, 1941
Atherinosoma presbyteroides (Richardson, 1843)
These spikefish inhabit open sandy areas and seagrass beds, e.g., from Zostera capricorni, in sheltered coastal waters, shallow bays, estuaries, and are often found in the lower parts of estuaries.
Leptatherina presbyteroides feeds fairly high up in the water column and probably consumes planktonic crustaceans such as calanoid and harpacticoid copepods, terrestrial insects, larvae of bivalves, and foraminifera.
The body is long, slender, with two small, widely separated dorsal fins, the snout is short, and the mouth is large and slightly protruding,
The jaws reach in front of the eyes, the teeth are very small.
The fish body is translucent, pale to dark green on top, silvery underneath, the median stripe is quite broad, silvery or faint pink to dark brown.
The snout has fine dark speckles.
Leptatherina presbyteroides comes in swarms of tens of thousands stay near the water's edge, where they feed on both bottom-dwelling and planktonic prey. The schools are sometimes mixed with another common species, the spikefish Atherina microstoma, although this species tends to live in the less saline areas of estuaries.
The spikefish family is a large group of small, slender fish with two dorsal fins, Instead of the lateral line that most fish species have, spikefish have its silver or reddish stripe down the side.
They are mainly known as baitfish and play an important ecological role in the food chain, being prey for pelagic fish such as the fathead mackerel (Caranx ignobilis) and also for seabirds.
Synonyms:
Atherina presbyteroides Richardson, 1843
Atherina tamarensis Johnston, 1883
Atherinichthys edelensis Castelnau, 1873
Atherinichthys obscurus Castelnau, 1875
Atherinosoma microstoma lincolnensis Whitley, 1941
Atherinosoma presbyteroides (Richardson, 1843)
