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| Melanotaenia catherinae - photo© Neil Armstrong |
(de Beaufort, 1910)
Waigeo Rainbowfish
Species Summary
Adult fish are bluish to purplish brown on the back and white on the lower side with a blue midlateral band up to 2½ scales wide. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins maroon reddish. May reach a maximum size of 10 cm, but usually less than 8 cm.
Distribution & Habitat
Melanotaenia catherinae is so far found only on Waigeo and Batanta Islands in the Raja Ampat Group lying immediately west of the Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua. They have been collected from several streams including the Rabiai River, Wai Semie and the Wai Meniel.
Raja Ampat, literally translated to mean "the four kings", is a group of islands comprising Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool located to the west of Sorong, on the northwest tip of the main island of New Guinea. The Raja Ampat Islands are situated immediately west of the West Papuan mainland, between 0°20' and 2°15' S latitude, and 129°35' and 131°20' E longitude. The Archipelago and surrounding seas occupy approximately 40,000 km².
Remarks
The first aquarium specimens were imported to Germany by Heiko Bleher in 1992, where they were bred and distributed internationally.
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| Melanotaenia catherinae - photo© Gerald Allen |
Literature
Allen, G.R. (1991). Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
Allen, G. R. and P. J. Unmack (2008). A new species of rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae: Melanotaenia), from Batanta Island, western New Guinea. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 13 (3-4): 109-120.
de Beaufort, L. F. (1910). Weitere Bestätigung einer zoogeographischen Prophezeiung. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 36 (12/13): 249-252.
© Copyright Adrian R. Tappin
Updated December, 2008.
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