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Species
Leucaspius delineatus (Heckel, 1843)
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
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.
Description[edit]
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.[1]
Distribution[edit]
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".
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Belica: Leucaspius delineatus". NatureGate. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leucaspius delineatus. |
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). "Leucaspius delineatus" in FishBase. August 2011 version.
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Leucaspius delineatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 July 2007.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leucaspius_delineatus&oldid=632741134 |
Territorial males clean the spawning sites and guard the eggs which are attached in strings around roots, reeds, aquatic vegetation or any material drifting on the water surface (Ref. 59043). When males tend the clutch, which is usually located on the stem of a water plant, they provide the clutch with fresh water by nudging the water plant. In addition, they spread an anti-bacterial fluid over the eggs (Ref. 1672). If possible, some fish will enter streams for spawning.
Belica are small fish with large eyes. With their relatively large mouth, they can gobble up eggs and larvae from fish and amphibians, although they eat mostly zooplankton. This fish species normally grows to a maximum of 7 centimeters and is olive green on top and silver underneath. The fish used to be considered a juvenile specimen of some other species. That is why not much is known about where the fish originated.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ecomare |
Source | http://www.ecomare.nl/index.php?id=3882&L=2 |
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
There are 5 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.
Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.
See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Het vetje is een klein visje met grote ogen. Met zijn relatief grote bek kan hij eieren en larven van vis en amfibieën ophappen, hoewel hij meestal zooplankton eet. Het visje wordt meestal niet langer dan 7 centimeter en is van boven olijfgroen en van onder zilver. Vroeger werd de vis vaak aangezien voor een nog niet volwassen exemplaar van een andere soort. Daarom is ook nu nog niet volledig bekend waar de vis precies voorkomt.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ecomare |
Source | http://www.ecomare.nl/index.php?id=3882&L=2 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 8
Specimens with Barcodes: 21
Species With Barcodes: 1
Inhabits lowland riverine habitats especially oxbows and other water bodies only connected to rivers during floods. Often encountered in ponds, steppe lakes and small water bodies not connected to rivers (Ref. 59043). Occurs in large schools which are most numerous in autumn. Found between weeds in shallow pools and creeks, shallow lakes, peat and clay excavations and canals. It is exposed to the stormy flow of water (in spring, autumn and winter), but usually choose quite places like small bays, plots behind bottom stones extending out of water and concrete foundations of bridges. In autumn, the schools of fish keep to the surface and rarely go to the pelagic zone. Towards winter, the schools break up and the number of fish per unit of river square decreases rapidly (Ref. 27674); they spend the winter in deeper waters (Ref. 41592). Feeds on phytoplankton and zooplankton and on flying insects (Ref. 27368). Spawns among vegetation (Ref. 30578). Aquarium keeping: at least 10 individuals; minimum aquarium size 100 cm; not recommended for home aquariums (Ref. 51539). Scales were utilized for production of Essence d'Orient, which was used for coating artificial pearls. Locally threatened due to draining of wetlands. Reaches up to about 9 cm SL (Ref. 59043).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=4782 |
Red List Criteria
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
History
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1996Lower Risk/least concern(Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/11873 |
From lower Rhine and northern Germany eastward to southern Baltic basin; Black Sea basin south to Rioni drainage, northern and western Caspian basin (south to Kura drainage); Aegean Sea basin (from Maritsa to Nestos). Absent in Italy, Adriatic basin, Great Britain and Scandinavia (except southernmost Sweden). Widely introduced in France, upper Rhine drainage, locally in Great Britain and Switzerland and invasive in western Siberia (Ob basin in Russia and Kazakhstan).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/11873 |
Population
Population Trend
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/11873 |