Elegant firefish

Elegant firefish
Elegant firefish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Ptereleotridae
Genus: Nemateleotris
Species: N. decora
Binomial name
Nemateleotris decora
Randall & Allen, 1973

The elegant firefish or purple firefish, Nemateleotris decora, is a dartfish of the genus Nemateleotris.

This species is found in the Indo-West Pacific, from Mauritius to Samoa, north to Ryukyu Islands, and south to New Caledonia, from 25–70 metres ( ft) in depth. It is found over hard, open bottoms of reefs and sandy patches, as well as deeper coastal outer reef drop-offs.[1] It reaches a maximum length of 9 centimetres (3 in).[1] This species is often found in pairs and is monogamous.[1] These fish feed on zooplankton, especially copepods and crustacean larvae.[1] They will dart into holes when alarmed.[1]

In the aquarium

This fish is popular in reef aquariums and is resistant to disease. These fish are relatively docile and will not attack tankmates where kept in a suitably sized aquarium; however, if kept in confined quarters these fish may squabble over territory.[2] Firefish are commonly kept in nano reef aquariums.

Firefish are prolific leapers. Thus, an aquarist contemplating the acquisition of either of these species should be certain that the aquarium hood will not easily allow the firefish to leap from the tank and expire. These fish should also be provided with rockwork to hide in.[2]

This and other species of firefish are occasionally spawned in captivity. [3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Nemateleotris decora" in FishBase. Apr 2007 version.
  2. ^ a b Dakin, Nick (1992). The Macmillan book of the Marine Aquarium. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. p. 225. ISBN 0-02-897108-6. 
  3. ^ "Purple firefish FAQ". AquaDaily. 2009-02-09. http://aquadaily.com/2009/02/09/purple-firefish-faq/. Retrieved 2009-02-10. 
  • Michael, Scott W. Marine Fishes. Neptune City, NJ: T.F.H. Publications, 2001. 360.
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