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Pseudomugil paskai (Kiunga) - photo© Neil Armstrong |
Allen and Ivantsoff, 1986
Paska's Blue-eye
Species Summary
Pseudomugil paskai is a small slender-bodied species, usually not exceeding 35 mm in length. Two dorsal fins, very close together, the first much smaller than the second. Males have a semi-translucent body colour that is bluish ventrally and yellowish above the mid-lateral line, with narrow dark scale outlines. The fins are generally translucent with white or yellow margins and scattered oval black spots. Lobes of the caudal fin have either white, yellow or reddish tips. Pelvic fins are yellowish with elongated anterior rays. Females do not have spots on their fins and do not show the colours of the males.
Distribution & Habitat
Pseudomugil paskai were collected by David Balloch and Gerald Allen in 1983. They are very similar to Pseudomugil gertrudae, but differ in colouration and fin shape. P. paskai are currently known only from a small creek, approximately 6° 03'S, 141° 18'E, 7.5 km north of Kiunga in the Fly River system of Papua New Guinea. They are a stream dwelling species occupying slow-flowing muddy or tea-coloured rainforest streams. Aquatic vegetation is generally abundant. The pH and temperature ranges recorded at the collection site were 6.0 - 6.5 and 25 - 26° Celsius.
Remarks
Live specimens were collected in 1983 by Gerald Allen and returned to Australia, but failed to become established in the hobby. However, other live collections have been made and small populations are now established in the international hobby. In 1996 eggs were imported into Australia from Europe, but again, they failed to become established in the Australian hobby.
Literature
Allen G.R. & W. Ivantsoff (1986) Deux nouvelles espèces de blue-eyes (Pseudomugil: Melanotaeniidae) de Nouvelle-Guinée. Revue française d'Aquariologie 12 (3): 85-88.
Allen G.R. (1991) Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
Allen G.R. (1995) Rainbowfishes in Nature and in the Aquarium. (Tetra-Verlag: Germany)
Allen G.R., K. Hortle and S. Renyaan (2000) Freshwater Fishes of the Timika Region, New Guinea. P.T. Freeport Indonesia, Timika, Indonesia.
Crockford B. (1998) Pseudomugil paskai. Fishes of Sahul 12(2): 561-562.
Adrian R. Tappin
March, 2016
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