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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing rainbowfish. Rainbowfish are named so because they come in a spectrum of colors. These fish can often be told apart from other fish living near them because rainbowfish have a split dorsal fin, or back fin. This is believed to be split for display purposes as it hasn’t been found to add any advantage for swimming. The second dorsal fin in males is typically pointed and can be a way to tell them apart from females. Another way to tell male and female rainbowfish apart is their color and shape: males tend to be more colorful with more elaborate fins - not unlike betta fish! For example, salmon red males appear salmon red in color but females look more yellow and olive green. Something else that’s interesting to note about rainbowfish is that in some species they may be completely different colors all together between conspecifics, or members of the same species. This family is mostly confined to Australia and New Guinea. Some rainbowfish of the same species, however, may look different between the two land masses. So their colorful name really goes a long way in describing the scale of their colors!

Rainbowfish live in streams, rivers, swamps, and other freshwater and brackish water systems. They are schooling fish and are often found in large groups, sometimes numbering more than fifty individuals! Some species stick to water depths of 3 feet (1m) or under. They use vegetation as a hiding place for laying their eggs. The breeding season is year round but peaks during the wettest parts of the year. Females lay batches of 50 to 200 eggs over the course of a few days. The eggs stick to vegetation and hatch anywhere from 7 to 18 days later depending on the species. Some fry spend their first moments swimming in a vertical stance, though eventually they begin to take on a more horizontal approach. It takes about a year before they reach sexual maturity. Some juveniles may appear like females and others may have different colors that are less vibrant than the adult form.

Rainbowfish are excellent mosquito catchers and eat aquatic insect larvae and other invertebrates as well as algae. In turn are eaten by larger fish and waterfowl. The larger species can get up to six inches (15cm) long but some barely reach an inch (2.54cm) in length. In captivity the larger species are known to live up to ten years. Rainbowfish are social and form schools, sometimes with other rainbowfish species. Generally, these fish live below 5,000 feet (1500m) in altitude but some specifically live in mountain streams where temperatures can reach 61 degrees F (16 degrees C). There are currently about 100 classified, living rainbowfish species, but more research will likely turn up more species

For more facts on rainbowfish, check out the links in the description. Thank you to bryton playz and trout slayer for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!