Ricefish
| Ricefishes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Oryzias woworae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Beloniformes |
| Family: |
Adrianichthyidae M. C. W. Weber, 1913 |
| Sub-families & Genera | |
|
Sub-family Adrianichthyinae Sub-family Oryziinae |
|
Sub-family Adrianichthyinae
Sub-family Oryziinae
The ricefishes are a family (Adrianichthyidae) of small ray-finned fish that are found in fresh and brackish waters from India to Japan and out into the Malay Archipelago, most notably Sulawesi (where the Lake Poso and Lore Lindu species are known as buntingi). The common name ricefish derives from the fact that some species are found in rice paddies. This family consists of about 37 species in two genera (some recognize a third, Xenopoecilus). Several species are rare and threatened, and some 2-4 may already be extinct.
Most of these species are quite small, making them of interest for aquaria. Adrianichthys reach lengths of 8.5–17.1 cm (3.3–6.7 in) depending on the exact species involved, while the largest Oryzias reaches up to 8 cm (3.1 in). Most Oryzias species are less than a half this length, with the smallest being up to only 1.6 cm (0.63 in) long. They have a number of distinctive features, including an unusual structure to the jaw, and the presence of an additional bone in the tail. The Japanese rice fish (O. latipes), also known as the medaka, is a popular model organism used in research in developmental biology. This species has traveled into space, where they have the distinction of being the first vertebrate to mate and produce healthy young in space.
Genetic study of the family suggests that it originally evolved on Sulawesi and spread from there to the Asian mainland; the supposed genus Xenopoecilus are apparently unrelated, morphologically divergent species of Oryzias.
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Wikipedia