New Fish Species Named

Posted by Douglas DuHamel May 28, 2008

Paul Loiselle of the New York Aquarium and Damaris Rodriguez of the American Museum of Natural History described the new species as Bedotia Leucopteron in a paper in the July 2007 issue of the systematics journal Zootaxa.

This unknown member of the Bedotia genus was given the common name of White-Finned Rainbowfish. This species was discovered in streams located in the central area of the Iaroka-Rinala basin in eastern Madagascar.

The Bedotia genus contains sixteen species but only seven have been officially described. Unfortunately, many of these species are about to become extinct due to the destruction of the rain forest in Madagascar. Scientists believe the Bedotia Leucopteron may not be threatened with extinction because they seem to be able to live in areas where deforestation has already occurred.

Bedotia Leucopteron is a shoaling fish and scientists have seen as many as 50 to 100 fish in one school. They were found swimming around waterlogged wood in rapidly moving water. The water conditions tested at a PH of 6.0 to 7.0 and temperature ranging from 64 – 82 degrees F depending on the altitude of their habitat.

In captivity, the Bedotia Leucopteron can reach the size of 7 inches whereas most other Bedotia members grow to approximately 5 inches. They were brought into North America in 1996 by Paul Loiselle. What qualified the White-Finned Rainbowfish as a new discovery was its appearance.

The body is blue and gold metallic with black spots on its sides. The fins have white trim. I’m glad to see that the fish may not become extinct because many fish that are native to Madagascar have disappeared.