Zenarchopteridae
| Zenarchopteridae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Female Dermogenys sumatrana a day or so before giving birth. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Beloniformes |
| Family: |
Zenarchopteridae Fowler, 1934 |
| Genera | |
Zenarchopteridae, the viviparous halfbeaks, is a family in the order Beloniformes. The Zenarchopteridae exhibit strong sexual dimorphism, practicing internal fertilisation, and in some cases ovoviviparous or viviparous (the family also includes oviparous species). The members in the family are mainly found in fresh and brackish water of tropical Asia and New Guinea, but the genus Zenarchopterus also includes marine species from the Indo-Pacific. Several, such as the wrestling halfbeak, have become commonly traded aquarium fish.
Viviparous halfbeaks vary in social behavior from open water schooling fish similar to the marine halfbeaks (family Hemiramphidae), as with species of Zenarchopterus, through to much more aggressive and combative fishes, as is best known from the "wrestling" halfbeaks of genus Dermogenys. These non-schoolers prefer to lurk among aquatic plants such as reeds, dead trees, and artificial structures of various types; from where they wait for small prey animals to drift by or alight on the surface, before darting from their hiding place to hunt. Notably, they feed extensively on female mosquitoes that are laying their eggs in the water, making them much better at mosquito control that species like guppies and that only take mosquito larvae.
Viviparous halfbeaks are more predatory than the marine species, and typically orient themselves into the current and take aquatic insect larvae, such as midge larvae, and small insects, such as flies that have fallen on the surface of the water, particularly mosquitoes and spiders.
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Wikipedia