Melanotaenia parkinsoni
Parkinson’s Rainbowfish
Species Summary
with dark edges. Mature males can be magnificent and usually have sweeping blotchy orange colouration on the posterior area of the body, giving an overall patchy appearance. Females are rather plain in comparison. Some males also develop large extended dorsal and anal fins with a ragged appearance. Another colour variety exists with bright yellow stripes or blotches instead of orange. Both colour forms have been collected from the Kemp Welsh River. Sometimes the stripes or blotches fuse to form an overall colouration, which covers the entire posterior half of the body. May reach a maximum size of 15 cm, but usually less than 12 cm.
Etymology
The species is named in honour of amateur naturalist Brian Parkinson (b. 1944) of Rabaul, New Britain, for his generous assistance during Allen’s trips to Papua New Guinea, where this species is endemic.
Etymology compiled from C. Scharpf (2022), “Fishes of Sahul: An Etymological Survey (Part 5), the rainbowfishes (continued)”, Fishes of Sahul 36(4): 1968–1992, and etyfish.org.
Distribution & Habitat
Melanotaenia parkinsoni was first collected in October 1978 by Gerry Allen and were found along the southern coast of eastern Papua New Guinea between the Kemp Welsh River and Milne Bay. They were collected in only a few interspersed locations, but in all probability, could be widespread within this region.
Gerry Allen collected specimens from two small tributaries of the Kemp Welsh River a short distance inland from the coast and about 75 kilometres southeast of Port Moresby, and from a small stream about 3 kilometres west of Alotau at the extreme eastern tip of mainland Papua New Guinea. Most of the original specimens collected were taken from a small stream that was mainly dry except for the occasional isolated pool. The stream was situated in grassy plains habitat with patchy rainforest immediately adjacent to the creek. The temperature and pH range recorded from this habitat was 27– 30° Celsius and 7.6–7.8.
Remarks
Named in honour of Brian Parkinson, a regular companion of Allen’s on numerous collecting trips to Papua New Guinea. Live specimens were brought back to Australia in 1978 by Gerald Allen and distributed in the aquarium hobby. Heiko Bleher collected a yellowish coloured form in the 1990s and distributed them in the European hobby. Males have a yellowish body and a pinkish breast.
This form was originally collected by Heiko Bleher in the late 1990s from south-eastern Papua New Guinea and have been maintained by Marcel Dielen in
References
- Allen G.R. (1980) Two new species of freshwater rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) from Papua New Guinea. Revue française d'Aquariologie 7(2): 43-50.
- Allen G.R. (1991) Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea.