Nandidae
| Asian leaffish | |
|---|---|
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| Gangetic leaffish Nandus nandus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Percomorpha |
| Family: | Nandidae Bleeker, 1852 |
| Genera[1] | |
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see text | |
Nandidae, the leaffish, are a
Pristolepididae, share the common name leaffish and appear to be more closely related.[4]
These fish usually have a coloration that appears to have evolved to resemble dead leaves, and very large protractile mouths. Those features, along with their peculiar movements (seemingly intended to resemble a leaf innocently moving through the water) help them to catch fairly large prey compared to their body size, including small fish, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates. They tend to stay in one place and wait for prey; they are "lie-in-wait" predators.
Their odd, leaf-like appearance and unusual behavior make them interesting to aquarium hobbyists.
Genera
There are three genera in the family:[1][5]
- Afronandus Meinken, 1955
- Nandus Valenciennes, 1831
- Polycentropsis Boulenger, 1901
See also
References
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2014). "Nandidae" in FishBase. February 2014 version.
- ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). Species of Pristolepis in FishBase. February 2019 version.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Nandidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
| Authority control databases: National |
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