BIOLOGY OF AQUARIUM

FISHES
Common
Character • Guppy fish
and sexual • Molly fish
dimorphism • Gold fish
of Fresh • Angel fish
• Blue morph
water and
• Puntius conchonius
Marine water
• Barilius bendelisis
fishes such
as:-

By- Sheetal Bisht

Classification:-
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Actinopterygii
Order- Cyprinodontiformes
Family- Poecilidae
Genus- Poecilia
Species- reticulata
 Guppy fish
Characters:-
 The guppy, also known as million fish and rainbow fish.
 It is the world most widely distributed tropical fish.
 It is freshwater fish species.
 Highly adaptable.
 Male guppies, which are smaller than female have
ornamental caudal and dorsal fins.
 Wild guppies, generally feed on a variety of food source,
including benthic algae and aquatic insect larvae.
 Guppies have been introduced to many different countries on
every continent except Antarctica.
 Used for mosquito control.
 No parental care found.
 Schooling is more favoured.
 Guppy fish
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 Guppies exhibit sexual dimorphism.
 The wild type female body color grey and male body have splashes,
spots, or stripes.
 The size of guppies in male 1.5 -3.5cm and in female 3 -6cm.
 A variety of guppy strains are produced by breeders through
selective breeding .
 Guppies have 23 pairs of chromosomes, including one pair of sex
chromosomes and 22 pairs of autosomes.
 2 or 3 generations of guppies per year occur in the wild.
 Young guppies school together and preform antipredator tactics.
 Brood size is extremely variable.
 Total lifespan of guppies in the wild varies greatly, but it is typically
around 2 years.
 During reproduction female guppies have enlarged and darkened
gravid spot near anal vents.
 Male guppies mature in 7 weeks or less.
MOLLY FISH
Classification:-
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Actinopterygii
Order- Cyprinodontiformes
Family- Poecilidae
Genus- Poecilia
Species- sphenops
 Molly fish
Characters:-
 Molly inhabit fresh water streams and marine waters of Mexico
and coastal brackish.
 The wild-type fishes are dull, silvery in color.
 The male mollies generally tend to be mildly aggressive.
 Hardly and highly adaptable.
 Have high growth rate, reproduction and brood number is high.
 Mollies are similar in appearance to their live bearer.
 Molly tends to be slightly larger and more energetic.
 Omnivorous.
 Continuous breeding through the year.
 Standard size of male fish is 8cm and female fish is 12cm.
 Molly can produce fertile hybrids.
 Molly fish
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 The molly fish sexual dimorphism exist whereby females are usually
larger than males, which is common in the Poecilidae family.
 Males use the colourful dorsal and caudal fins as secondary sexual
features to attract females.
 Female have a dark patch that appears between the abdomen and
the anal fin.
 Fertilization occurs internally and is accomplished via highly modified
anal fins of males called the gonopodium.
 Poecilia sphenops produce broods of 10-140 live young, the
number of which produce depending on the maturity and size of
females.
 Gestation periods may vary between 3-4 weeks, depending upon
temperature.
 The young mollies stay in groups of similar sized fish.
GOLD FISH
Classification:-
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Actinopterygii
Order – Cypriniforms
Family – Cyprinidae
Subfamily – Cyprininae
Genus – Carassius
Species - auratus
 Gold fish
Characters:-
 Gold fish are long-lived fish species.
 Native to East-Asia.
 It’s freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order
Cypriniforms.
 Omnivores in diet and eat plants, insects, zooplankton and
small crustaceans.
 Egg-layers.
 The goldfish generally have two sets of paired fins.
a) Pelvic fins.
b) Pectoral fins.
 The goldfish have 3 single fins – the dorsal fin, anal fin, and
caudal fin.
 They have no scales on their head, and they also lack barbels
on the upper jaw.
 Gold fish
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 Gold fish grow to sexual maturity with enough water
and the right nutrition.
 Gold fish breed in captivity, particularly in pond
setting.
 Males chase gravid female goldfish, and prompt them
to release their eggs by bumping and nudging them.
 Egg-laying.
 The eggs hatch within 48 to 72 hours.
 Gold fish can no longer breed naturally due to their
altered shape.
 The artificial breeding method called “hand
stripping”.
ANGEL FISH
Classification:-
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Actinopterygii
Order – Cuculiformes
Family – Cichlidae
Tribe – Heroini
Genus – Pterophyllum
Species - scalaris
 Angel fish
Characters:-
 Freshwater angelfish have tall vertical dorsal fins and long vertical anal fins.
 Native to Tropical south America.
 The angelfish shaped are laterally compressed with round bodies and
elongate triangular dorsal and anal fins.
 Carnivorous in diet.
 Egg-laying.
 Brood care is highly developed.
 Angelfish are a group of peaceful but sometimes aggressive freshwater
cichlid.
 Angelfish are easy to care and live up 10 years.
 Angelfish should be kept in a warm aquarium, with a temperature that
remains around 78 to 80◦F.
 Angelfish will flourish if they are fed a mixture of flake, live and frozen foods
such as brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and bloodworms.
 Angelfish are especially sensitive to poor water quality.
 Angel fish
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 Angel fish reaches sexual maturity at the age of 6 to 12
months or more.
 The pair is capable of spawning every 7 to 10 days.
 Around the age of three years, spawning frequency
decreases and eventually ceases.
 When the pair is ready to spawn, they choose an appropriate
medium upon which to lay the eggs, and spend one to two
days picking off detritus and algae from the surface.
 The female deposits a line of eggs on the spawning
substrate, followed by the male, which fertilizes the eggs.
 The eggs hatch and the fry remain attached to the spawning
substrate.
 At the free swimming stage, the fry can be fed suitable sized
live food.
BLUE MORPH
Classification:-
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Actinopterygii
Order – Cichliformes
Family – Cichlidae
Genus – Amatitlania (Convict)
Species – nigrofasciata (cichlid)
 Blue morph
Characters:-
 The Convict cichlid is a fish species from the family Cichlidae.
 Native to Central America.
 Commonly known as the Zebra cichlid.
 Omnivorous in diet consists of crustaceans, small fish, insects,
worms, plants and algae.
 It is a biparental species.
 It is to be highly aggressive and territorial.
 Convict cichlid prefer moving water.
 The daily water temperature range from 26-29◦C.
 Convict cichlid can be relatively tolerant of cool water.
 A pair of convicts should kept in a 20-gallon aquarium or larger.
 Convict cichlid are aggressively territorial during breeding and
pairs are kept alone.
 Brood care is reduced in aquarium strains.
 Blue morph
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 The Convict cichlid can reach sexual maturity as
young as 16 weeks, though sexual maturity
more commonly occurs at 6 months.
 The egg hatch approximately 72 hours after
fertilization.
 Brood care of eggs, larvae and free-swimming
juveniles in the wild can last 4-6 weeks.
 Both parents remain involved in guarding the
fry from brood predators.
 The male and female may each obtain a
territory before pairing with each other.
 Puntius
conchonius
Classification:-
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Actinopterygii
Order – Cypriniforms
Family – Cyprinidae
Subfamily – Barbinae
Genus – Puntius
Species - conchonius
 Puntius
conchonius
Characters:-
 Puntius conchonius commonly known as rosy barb.
 It is a subtropical freshwater cyprinidae fish found in southern Asia from
Afghanistan to Bangladesh.
 Omnivorous in diet consists of worms, insects, crustaceans, and plant matter.
 They have a lifespan of up to 5 years.
 Their natural habitat has a pH of 6 to 8, a water hardness of 5-19dGH, and a
temperature range of 64-72◦F (18-22◦C).
 The rosy barb is an active, peaceful species well-suited for a community
aquarium.
 It can be kept together with other small fish but can be aggressive toward other
fish and nip their fins.
 They will eat most foods provided to them.
 They are kept in groups of 5 or more in an aquarium with a length of at least
76cm (30 inches).
 They usually reach a maximum size of 10.2 cm(4 inches).
 Using a dark-coloured gravel will show off the color of the fish.
 The species of barbs used to create hybrid versions of “tiger barbs”.
 Puntius
conchonius
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 During breeding season the male has a brighter pinkish colour
and the female is slightly plumper.
 These species grows up to 14cm in length.
 Females do not have any black colour in their fins while males
do.
 They may weigh up to 340g when fully grown but can weigh
much less during adolescence.
 They are mature at 63.5mm (2.5inches).
 When the female is ready to spawn, she will appear swollen
with eggs.
 Eggs are usually deposited in groups.
 The young hatch in 24 to 36 hours, depending on water
temperature.
 Barilius
bendelisis
Classification:-
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Actinopterygii
Order – Cypriniforms
Family – Cyprinidae
Genus – Barilius
Species - bendelisis
 Barilius
bendelisis

Characters:-
 Barilius bendelisis commonly known as Indian Hill
Trout.
 Native to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
 Breeding season is March to May depending on
environmental temperature.
 Males shows territorial behaviour.
 Parental care is not shown by the fishes.
 Barilius
bendelisis
Sexual Dimorphism:-
 Species shows well developed sexual dimorphism characters during
breeding period.
 Males are brighter in colour, develops breeding tubercles on snout
and lower jaw region.
 Operculum is more elongated in males.
 Female are dull in coloration and have smooth snout.
 Incubation of eggs take place in the nest pits and after 3-4 days free
swimming hatchlings come out from the nest.
 Breeding is observed in the month of January to May and August to
December.
 The fertilized eggs are pale yellow in colour and have a diameter of
2.1 to 2.5mm in size.
 Hatching took place within 50-60hours at 20-22 ◦C.