Menidia beryllina

Inland Silverside

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Status: Least concern

Mamberamo Rainbowfish Glossolepis multisquamata

Found in lakes, slow-flowing streams and backwaters of the Mamberamo river system in West Papua.

Least Concern

Beloniformes. Most fish of this order live close to the surface, including the flying fish.

Atheriniformes. This order is also known as silversides, and includes the rainbowfish.

Misool Rainbowfish Melanotaenia misoolensis

It is endemic to Misool in West Papua, Indonesia. They occur in moderately streams with relatively fast currents and clear water which flow through primary rainforest.

Least Concern

Atheriniformes Balık Özellikleri – Hakkında Bilgi

Atheriniformes; uçanbalık, gümüş, çamuka, zargana gibi deniz türlerini ve pek çok tatlı su türünü kapsayan kemiklibalıklar takımıdır.

Exocoetoidei alttakımının üyeleri (uçanbalıklar, yarımgagalar, zarganalar) ince, uzun gövdeli, boyları 1 m’nin altında olan balıklardır. Türlerden çoğunun yumurtalarında, su bitkilerine tutunmalarını sağlayan yapışkan iplikçikler bulunur. Sırt ve anüs…

Atlantic Silversides Know the Wisdom of Crowds - The New York Times

Silversides are abundant in the late summer. Drag a two-handled seine net along any shallow, salty shoreline in the five boroughs this time of year and a large part of the gleaming, wet mass of fish in the net will be Atlantic silversides. Dip that same net anywhere along the coastline from southern Canada to Florida and the results will be the same. Silversides may be small fish, but they play an outsize role in the ecology of the Atlantic coast.

Menidia menidia prefers life in shallow back bays and estuaries but can also be found in the churning Atlantic surf. Wherever they swim, life is brutal and usually brief. Predators come in every shape and size, with fins, wings, even furry paws. Skimmers, terns, gulls, herons, snappers, striped bass, fluke, even opportunistic raccoons hunt these fish relentlessly.

Ranging from three to six inches long at this time of year, silversides have little with which to defend themselves but their numbers; the fish congregate in tight schools that dart and skip nervously at any disturbance. Their color is a dun-green above to match their sandy or muddy bottoms, but each fish bears a striking silver stripe along its sides that runs the fish’s length, from gill to tail. The changing reflections on this stripe and the shifting patterns of the school are intended to confuse predators, which have trouble distinguishing one fish from another within the swirling mass. The shallow waters found at places like Pelham Bay Park or Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach are particularly good sites to observe the skittish behavior of these tiny fish.