Silver fish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Silver fish |
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The Raiamas senegalensis is a type of fish often called the silver fish, Senegal trout barb, or Senegal minnow. It belongs to the cyprinid fish family, which includes carps and minnows. This fish lives in freshwaters across a large part of western Africa, stretching all the way to the River Nile. Sometimes, you can even find it for sale in aquarium shops!
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What Does the Silver Fish Look Like?
The Raiamas senegalensis is a sleek fish. It has eleven soft rays on its back fin (dorsal fin) and sixteen soft rays on its bottom fin (anal fin). You can usually spot it by the dark, vertical stripes on its sides. There are usually fewer than fifteen of these stripes. It also has a round spot near its tail, on a part called the caudal peduncle.
The fish's main color is shiny silver. Its back is a grayish-green. The vertical stripes become smaller as they get closer to its head. The biggest Raiamas senegalensis ever found was about 245 mm (9.6 in) long. That's about the length of a standard ruler! Both male and female fish look very similar; they do not show much difference in appearance.
Where Do Silver Fish Live?
These fish are found across a huge area of Africa. Their home ranges from western Africa all the way to the Nile River basin in the east. You can find them in many major river systems. These include the Lake Chad basin, the Niger, Gambia, Senegal, and Volta rivers. They also live in several smaller rivers along the coast.
This means the Raiamas senegalensis has been seen in many countries. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Togo.
Silver Fish Habitat and What They Eat
The Raiamas senegalensis is a freshwater fish. This means it lives only in rivers and lakes, not in the ocean. It's a "demersal" fish, which means it usually stays near the bottom of the water.
These fish are predators, meaning they hunt other creatures for food. During the day, they mostly eat tiny plankton that are not insects. But when night comes, they switch their diet! At night, they prefer to eat insect plankton.
Silver Fish and People
Sometimes, the Raiamas senegalensis is caught and sold in the aquarium trade. This means people buy them to keep as pets in their home fish tanks.
How Are Silver Fish Protected?
The Raiamas senegalensis is found in many different places across Africa. There are no big, widespread threats that are hurting their populations. Because of this, experts have listed it as a species of "Least Concern." This means they are not currently worried about it becoming endangered.
