Leucaspius delineatus
| Leucaspius delineatus | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: |
Leucaspius Heckel & Kner, 1858 |
| Species: | L. delineatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Leucaspius delineatus Heckel, 1843 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Leucaspius abruptus Heckel & Kner, 1858 |
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Leucaspius abruptus Heckel & Kner, 1858
Leucaspius delineatus delineatus (Heckel, 1843)
Leucaspius delineatus dimorphus Ruzskii, 1914
Leucaspius relictus Warpachowski, 1889
Leucaspius delineatus, known as the sunbleak, belica or moderlieschen is a species of freshwater fish in the Cyprinidae family. It is currently the only species included in genus Leucaspius, whereas formerly others were included, which now have been moved to Ladigesocypris or Pseudophoxinus or merged with L. delineatus.
The belica is a slender fish with a tapered body which is usually from 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in) long and seldom grows larger than 10 cm (3.9 in). It has an upward-turned mouth and a short lateral line which extends about seven to ten scales from the gill cover. The anal fin is short and consists of eleven to fourteen rays. This is a silvery fish with a particularly intense band of colour running along the flank.
The belica is found all over temperate continental Europe and barely extends to Central Asia in the Caucasus region. The southern limits of its range are essentially marked by the Pyrenees and the Alpide belt.
The common name Moderlieschen is of German origin. Although it looks like a proper word that can be approximately translated as "mouldy Lizzy", it is actually a bowdlerized version of an older name which survives in parts of Germany as Mutterloseken. Literally meaning "the little motherless one", this ultimately refers to the fact that the sticky eggs of the moderlieschen can withstand exposure to air for a remarkably long time. Deposited on water plants, they sometimes stick to the feet of ducks and similar birds and are carried by these to ephemeral ponds. Large numbers of young moderlieschens are thus sometimes encountered when such ponds dry up, and with no adult fish being present this gave rise to the belief that they were "motherless".
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