Encyclopedia of Life · EOL (see source)
Species
Least Concernbitterling
Species
- PhylumChordata
- ClassTeleostei
- OrderCypriniformes
- FamilyCyprinidae
Amur bitterlings are small carp ranging in size from 5 to 8 centimeters. Due to their bitter taste, predators tend to avoid them. Amur bitterlings are only found in places where freshwater mussels (painter's mussels or swan mussels) are found. These mussels serve as a surrogate mother for the fish.
via IUCN
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Encyclopedic overview
The Amur bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus) is a small fish of the carp family. It is sometimes just called "bitterling", which dates back to the time when the European bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) was still considered conspecific with R. sericeus, and "bitterling" properly refers to any species in the entire genus Rhodeus. The Amur bitterling is found in Siberia, while the European bitterling is found from European Russia westwards.
Mussels form an essential part of their reproductive system, with bitterling eggs being laid inside them. Long thought to be symbiotic with the mussels (whose larval phase attaches to fish gills during development), recent research has indicated they are, in fact, parasitic, with co-evolution being seen in Chinese bitterling and mussel species.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Amur bitterling” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.