- Indostomus
Taxobox
name = "Indostomus"
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Actinopterygii
ordo =Gasterosteiformes
familia = Indostomidae
genus = "Indostomus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Indostomus crocodilus "
"Indostomus paradoxus "
"Indostomus spinosus ""Indostomus" is sole genus in the family of fishes Indostomidae and contains only three species. The indostomids are small,
tropical fish in the stickleback orderGasterosteiformes , and are closely related toseahorse s andpipefish es.The first member of Family Indostomidae, "Indostomus paradoxus", was discovered in the 1920's in a lake in Burma. It was named the armoured stickleback, but is also called paradox fish and Burma stichling. The fish was morphologically unique, so the new family Indostomidae was created for it. It is 3 to 4 centimeters in length and much smaller in width and height, similar to the pipefish. The body is extremely thin and cylindrical, especially caudally as it tapers to its thinnest point and ends in a fan-shaped tail fin. It is twiglike and covered in hard scutes, and it bears five spines on its back and six on its operculum. It is a slow-moving, bottom-feeding
fish that picks forfood in the mud ofswamp s andriver s.In the 1990s two other species were discovered and placed into the genus "Indostomus". "I. crocodilus" lives in
Thailand and has habits similar to "I. paradoxus". "Indostomus spinosus" was found in the Mekong River, its tributaries, and adjoining swamps. In 2001 "I.Tiliosi" was listed as a possible new species, but as of yet has not been officially described.Further reading
* Britz, R. and M. Kottelat. (1999). Two new species of gasterosteiform fishes of the genus "Indostomus" (Teleostei: Indostomidae). "Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat." 10(4):327-336.
* Berra, Tim M. (2001). "Freshwater Fish Distribution". San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-093156-7
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