Melanotaenia urisa
Species Summary
Melanotaenia urisa is one of four closely related rainbowfishes described together in 2012 from the Arguni Bay region of the Bomberai Peninsula and Bird’s Neck, West Papua, Indonesia. All four are allied to M. ammeri, M. irianjaya, M. kokasensis, M. angfa and each other, sharing a similar general body plan with relatively little difference between the sexes beyond colour intensity — unlike most rainbowfishes, males do not develop a noticeably deeper body or more elongated fin rays than females. Live males are brown above with eight brown stripes alternating with narrower orange to yellowish stripes, a dark blue-tinged mid-lateral stripe, and dorsal and anal fins that are uniformly orange to reddish.
Etymology
The species is named for Urisa village, near the type locality, a karst spring emerging from the Berari Anticline at the elevation of Sewiki Lake, District Arguni Bawah, Papua Barat.
Etymology compiled from C. Scharpf (2023), “Fishes of Sahul: An Etymological Survey (Part 6), the rainbowfishes (continued)”, Fishes of Sahul 37(1): 2006–2022, and etyfish.org.
Distribution & Habitat
Melanotaenia urisa is known only from its type locality: a karst spring emerging from the Berari Anticline at the level of Sewiki Lake, about 6 km southeast of Urisa village. The spring is an artesian resurgence of blue fresh water in an otherwise brackish, swampy setting, its size fluctuating with the season and tide, over a bottom of white sand and limestone boulders with abundant dead wood — also home to an unidentified crayfish, Cherax.
Comparison with Similar Species
Melanotaenia urisa differs from M. ammeri in a narrower body, longer and more slender caudal peduncle, shorter preanal length and shorter fins; from M. irianjaya and M. kokasensis in a shorter head and narrower body with shorter fins; and from its Arguni Bay neighbour M. arguni in a larger eye, shorter preanal length and longer, more slender caudal peduncle.
Account compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from Kadarusman, R. K. Hadiaty, G. Segura, G. Setiawibawa, D. Caruso & L. Pouyaud (2012), “Four new species of Rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) from Arguni Bay, West Papua, Indonesia”, Cybium 36(2): 369–382.
References
- Kadarusman, R.K. Hadiaty, G. Segura, G. Setiawibawa, D. Caruso & J. Pouyaud (2012) Four new species of Rainbowfishes (Melanotaeniidae) from Arguni Bay, West Papua, Indonesia. Cybium, 36(2): 369-382.