From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dracula fish
Dracula fish
Danionella dracula than the zebrafish, and thus it is translucent and appears
similar to larval forms.[1][2] The natural diet of the drac-
Scientific classification ula fish is unknown but in captivity it eats shrimp lar-
Kingdom: Animalia vae, small nematodes and fish flakes. Close relatives of
the fish feed upon small crustaceans and invertebrates.[5]
Phylum: Chordata
The dracula fish is unusual in that its ancestors lost
Class: Actinopterygii their true teeth around 50 million years ago, but re-
evolved its bone fangs as a replacement around 30 milli-
Order: Cypriniformes
on years ago.[2] The species is sexually dimorphic in that
Family: Cyprinidae the female does not have such prominent bone fangs. It
Genus: Danionella becomes sexually mature while its body is still not fully
developed; scientists speculate that this may happen be-
Species: D. dracula cause younger fish were more successful reproductive-
Binomial name ly.[2] Ichthyologist Dr Ralf Britz, who named the fish after
Bram Stoker’s character Count Dracula, stated that the
Danionella dracula
dracula fish "is one of the most extraordinary vertebrates
Britz, Conway & Rüber, 2009
discovered in the last few decades."[1][4]
fish,
The dracula fish Danionella dracula is a species of tropical
dracula,
danionin fish from the cyprinid family. It is a freshwater References
fish indigenous to Burma. A close relative is Brachydanio
[1] ^ Black, Richard (2009-03-11). ’Dracula’ fish shows
rerio, the zebrafish of aquariums. It is named dracula after
baby teeth. BBC News. Retrieved on 2009-03-11.
its unusual "fangs": male dracula fish have protruding
[2] ^ Ralf Britz, Kevin W. Conway, Lukas Rüber.
tooth-like bones stemming from their jawbones. Males
(2009-03-06). Spectacular morphological novelty in
have been observed using their fangs to spar against oth-
a miniature cyprinid fish, Danionella dracula n. sp..
er males.[1][2]
The Royal Society. Retrieved on 2009-03-11.
Identified in April 2007[3] from specimens shipped to
[3] Tiny fish developed its own set of dracula fangs.
the United Kingdom in a consignment of aquarium fish,
The Times (2009-03-11). Retrieved on 2009-04-30.
the dracula fish has so far only been found in the wild in a
[4] ^ Devlin, Kate (2009-03-11). New ’dracula’ fish
small stream at Sha Du Zup between Mogaung and Tanai
discovered. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on
in northern Burma.[2] It is a colourless miniature species
2009-03-11.
and grows to a maximum size of around 17 millimetres
[5] Jaggard, Victoria (2009-03-11). Photo In The News:
(0.67 in).[4] The fish has an elongate body with a large
New "Dracula" Fish Discovered. National Geographic.
head and eyes. Dracula fish lack scales and the upper
Retrieved on 2009-03-12.
body is dominated by the jaws on large males. Much of
the fish’s structure is cartilaginous, it has 44 fewer bones
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dracula_fish&oldid=452594112"
Categories:
• Cold-water aquarium fish
• Danios
• Fish of Southeast Asia
This page was last modified on 26 September 2011 at 22:07. Text is available under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
1