Macropod , or common macropod [1] ( lat. Macropodus opercularis ) is a type of labyrinth fish from the macropod family ( Osphronemidae ). Representatives live in fresh waters with a weak current in the Far East - from the Yangtze to central Vietnam and northern Laos ; also introduced to Korea and Japan [2] . The only mention of ordinary macropods from the Amur waters is associated with the incorrect identification of an ocular macropod specimen ( Macropodus ocellatus ) [3] . A common aquarium fish . Homeland - China, where the fish lives mainly in the grooves of rice checks. Bred by selection of needles (Polyacanthidae). [four]
| Macropod |
Female and male |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
|
| International scientific name |
|---|
Macropodus opercularis ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
| Synonyms |
|---|
- Chaetodon chinensis Bloch, 1790
- Labrus opercularis Linnaeus, 1758
- Macropodus chinensis (Bloch, 1790)
- Macropodus ctenopsoides Brind, 1915
- Macropodus filamentosus Oshima, 1919
- Macropodus venustus Cuvier, 1831
- Macropodus viridiauratus Lacepède, 1801
|
| Security status |
|---|
Least ConcernedIUCN 3.1 Least Concern : 166051 |
|
Its Latin name, which changed without speaking into spoken language, due to the elongated form of the anal fin, in which the taxonomist father Karl Linnaeus, who gave the fish a name, for some reason saw his leg: in Greek μακρός (macro), then long and ποδός (podos) that means foot [5] .
Females are shorter than males: 6 cm and 8 cm, respectively. Males are distinguished by a brighter color and sharper and elongated unpaired fins. The color intensity increases with increasing water temperature and with the excitement of fish.
Coloring and pattern: Male gold-brown. Dark transverse stripes on the body (starting from the back and not reaching the abdomen). The dorsal and anal fins are light blue, with bright red dots at their tips. Females are paler, with short fins and a full abdomen.
In addition to the original shape of the macropods, semi-albinos with a pinkish body, covered only with red stripes and red fins, and the so-called black macropods with a dark-colored body and without stripes, but with long beautiful fins, are derived by artificial selection.
Macropod is one of the first aquarium fish . He was brought to Europe in 1869, and Pierre Carbonne was successfully involved in his breeding in Paris , which in fact gave rise to modern breeding of tropical fish in aquariums. Later, in 1876, macropods entered the aquariums of Berlin.
In aquariums, they are hardy, tolerate a short-term increase in water temperature to 35 ° C, put up even with stale water, do not need to filter and aerate the water. They eat small invertebrates and prevent excessive reproduction of snails and flatworms.
Many male macropods are quite aggressive towards each other and in relation to other fish, so it is better to keep the macropods in one pair and plant large fish with them. It is especially not recommended to keep telescopes , scalars and discus , as well as all small fish species - neon , zebrafish and others in the same aquarium with macropods.
Macropods are long-livers among labyrinth fish and, under favorable conditions, live in aquariums for up to 8-10 years, but remain the most successful producers until about half of this period.
For spawning, the male builds a nest of bubbles near the plants near the surface. When spawning, the male squeezes the female, wrapping her across her body, and squeezes the eggs out of her. Caviar is lighter than water, so it floats up, and the male collects it in foam and protects it until the babies appear.
The male takes care of eggs and fry for up to 10 days, renewing the nest. At the same time, he sorts and shifts the eggs, collecting the spreading offspring with his mouth and returning it back. Sometimes a female left in an aquarium of sufficient size helps the male take care of the offspring. In this case, the behavior of the male is apparently very important. He can be very aggressive even towards his wife, and she has to hide in the thickets of plants.
When breeding macropods in small temporary spawning grounds, most aquarists plant females immediately after spawning, and males are separated from fry when the latter begin to swim freely.
The diploid number of chromosomes is 42 [6] . The genome size is 0.59 pg (C value) [7] .
