Smallscale redfin
species of fish
The smallscale redfin (Pseudobarbus asper) is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae which is endemic to South Africa. It is threatened by habitat destruction and the impact of invasive species.
Description
Its meristic data are that there are three-four dorsal fin spines and 7 rays while the nail fin has three spines and five rays and the lateral line has 37-40 small scales. It has a single pair of barbels and the males develop dark red fins and tubercles on the head when breeding. It grows to around 12 cm (4.7 in) total length.
Distribution
Pseudobarbus asper occurs in the arid Karoo region of South Africa in the Gamtoos and Gourits River systems of the Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Biology
The smallscale redfin is found in turbid, eutrophic waters which have soft silty beds or over boulders to boulder in the Karoo region of South Africa. Its small size is understood to be an adaptation to the highly variable environment this fish inhabits, making it able to exploit food resources occurring in small spaces such as under boulders. It has a relatively long gut and this allows it to exploit a wider range of food than related species. The juvenile fish are found in sheltered areas of the rivers such as erosion gullies and areas with high levels of vegetation cover.
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This entry incorporates text from “Smallscale redfin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.