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| Kiunga ballochi - photo© Neil Armstrong |
Allen, 1983
Kiunga Blue-eye
Description
Body and swim bladder mainly transparent, linings of stomach and opercula silvery. Iris blue and scales thinly outlined with pepper-like melanophores. Midlateral line, ventral edge of caudal peduncle, and bases of dorsal, caudal, and anal fins with dense concentrations of melanophores. Spinous dorsal fin translucent yellow; second dorsal, caudal, and anal fin with bold black borders and yellow submarginal bands, remaining portions of these fins transparent except dorsal and anal fins with narrow strips of yellow basally and anterior half of anal fin with membranes mainly yellow. Pectoral fins transparent. All fins with soft rays faintly outlined with black. The genus Kiunga is most similar to Pseudomugil and is currently the only know member of its genus.
Distribution
Collected by Gerald Allen and John Paska in 1982 from a small tributary of the Ok Smak River, about 40 kilometres north of Kiunga on Tabubil Road, Papua New Guinea. The full extent of its distribution range is unknown. Pseudomugil novaeguineae was also collected at this location.
Habitat & Ecology
Restricted to several small shallow tributary streams flowing through dense rainforest with occasional sunlit clearings. A temperature of 24-25° Celsius and a pH of 7.8 were recorded at the collecting site. Body laterally compressed and moderately deep for a blue-eye, maximum size around 30 mm SL. Two dorsal fins, very close together, the first much smaller (almost non-existing) than the second.
Remarks
The species was named in honour of Dr. David Balloch, a biologist with the Ok Tedi Mining Company. A few live specimens were brought back to Australia by Barry Crockford, but they were all destroyed in a tragic house fire in February 1983. Heiko Bleher visited this area in 1993 and despite sampling 37 streams along the entire stretch of road, he was unable to find any specimens. However, the species is probably more widespread, but has escaped notice due to its small size and largely inaccessible habitat.
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| Kiunga bleheri - photo© Heiko Bleher |
In Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology 8(2) Gerald Allen described a new species of blue-eye, Kiunga bleheri. On first glance their general appearance looks similar to Kiunga ballochi. However, the morphological differences, nevertheless, are also obvious. It differs from its only known congener, Kiunga ballochi, also from the Kiunga area, on the basis of its much shorter second dorsal and anal fins, significant modal difference in the number of second dorsal fin rays, 6 versus 5 transverse scale rows on the body, and in usually having most of the second dorsal and anal fin rays unbranched.
Heiko Bleher collected this species in 1991. Unfortunately on that occasion the live specimens were lost by the airline. On a second attempt in 1993 he caught just three individuals and they didn't breed. Then in 2003 he managed to catch a larger number in the same stream and after a flight lasting 28 hours they arrived safely in Europe. Charles Nishihira, an aquarist from Hawaii, also collected Kiunga bleheri in 1994. Kiunga bleheri is now available in the aquarium hobby.
© Copyright Adrian R. Tappin
Updated March, 2007.
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