One of the common fish in any aquarium is the zebra fish. There is a wide variety of this type and it is known to be the first vertebrate to be cloned. Its scientific name is Danio Rio. It is a fish osteíctio actinopterygium, belongs to the order of the cypriniformes and its family is the Cyprinidae. In this article we are going to talk about its characteristics, food and necessary care in aquariums.
Do you want to know more about zebrafish? Keep reading.
Key features
They are fish with a length of about 5 centimeters. The body is elongated and also fusiform. Unlike other fish, it only has a dorsal fin and a rigorous mouth that is directed upwards. This is caused by a type of lower jaw called a protrusion. It has a pair of very fine chins which can only be seen if the animal is positioned vertically. The eyes are centrally located.
It has neither teeth nor stomach and feeds using spiny gills to suck food. When we analyze the side, we can appreciate 5-9 dark blue stripes. The operculum is bluish and the ventral area is white with a pinkish hue. These stripes is what makes this fish receive the name of zebrafish.
It presents sexual dimorphism since males and females have different colors and sizes. The female is generally larger than the male and has a silvery background color to her body. On the other hand, the male has golden hues.
Range and habitat
This species is native to streams located in the southeast of the Himalay region, they are also found in the India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Burma in some places. In these areas you can find a greater number of specimens. We can also find them in some rice fields, since they need a water dam and an irrigation system. Zebrafish take advantage of this to live in the area and even reproduce.
As for its habitat, it can be found inhabiting streams, ditches, canals. ponds and any aquatic area whose currents are not very fast or are stagnant.
This species tolerates the presence of human beings very well and coexists well with them. For this reason it is one of the most common fish in fish tanks. Adaptation to live in human environments is due to flooding caused by rains. This has made zebrafish adapted to multiple temperatures from 6 degrees Celsius to 38 without any problem. This range of temperatures is not seen in many fish.
We can also find this fish in the US due to its intrusion into these habitats due to a massive release and the escape of specimens in fish farms. They can be found in California, Connecticut, Florida, and New Mexico. In South America there are specimens in Colombia.
Behavior
Zebrafish is quite a social and active animal. Its activity takes place during the day. They are handled in shoal and there are social hierarchies between the male and the female. Dominant males behave aggressively, biting and chasing other fish to mark mating territory. Spawning occurs in these areas.
They form groups that swim at the same time and can change direction instantly without colliding with each other. This synchronized global change of direction is done to scare the predator by giving the appearance of being larger.
Zebrafish show warning signs when they perceive a predator, this is done through their olfactory or visual sense, their behavior becomes intensely agitated, shows aggressiveness and reduces feeding frequency.
Zebrafish feeding
Food is omnivorous. Most of the food is in the water columns. They generally eat zooplankton and marine insects. Sometimes it travels to the surface of the water to feed on terrestrial insects that die there. Small arachnids are their favorites along with mosquito larvae.
They also eat worms, small crustacean, phytoplankton, eat a wide variety of other foods if their main food sources are not available
Reproduction
It is from three to six months when the zebrafish reaches sexual maturity. They are capable of reproducing throughout the entire year. The female lays up to 200 eggs and the development of the embryo is quite fast.
It only takes about thirty-six hours after fertilization for the embryo to begin to form and divide into thousands of small cells. These cells migrate to the sides of the yolk and start the formation of the head and tail, the latter grows and separates from the body over time the yolk becomes smaller since it is in charge of feeding the fish.
Necessary care
These fish are very calm and easy to care for. Since in their behavior we saw that they always move in shoals, it is imperative that if you want to have them in the aquarium, there are at least 6 copies. This feature can help create a beautiful community aquarium.
It is necessary that the aquarium has enough space so that they do not have problems when swimming. It must be remembered that these fish are quite fast and good swimmers and their natural habitats must be reproduced as well as possible. The quality of the aquarium bottom is an important factor, it is essential to have a biological filter.
It is advisable to have a layer of gravel that is not very thick and does not have anything that could harm the fish. Placing plants to oxygenate the aquarium is a good decision. The temperature should be around 28 ° C this is considered ideal however it survives at temperatures between 20 ° and 29 ° C. With these temperatures it can be said that they live relatively well even so when temperatures are below 27 ° C, apparently their life expectancy is lower, the ideal pH is 7.3 to 7.5 with a hardness of 5 ° to 15 ° dGH.
I hope that with these tips you can enjoy your zebrafish.