Melanotaenia synergos
Batanta Island Rainbowfish
Species Summary
Adult males have a bluish (turquoise) wash above a usually discontinuous mid-lateral stripe and a whitish belly region. They have a gold (yellowish) wash of colour above and below the lateral line near the caudal peduncle. The second dorsal and anal fins are a silver-grey-blue colour. Females are similarly coloured but not as intense and their dorsal/anal fins are uncoloured. They are very similar in colouration, body shape etc., to Melanotaenia catherinae and can easily be confused with this species. The two species share similar meristic and morphological features as well as general colour pattern similarities. However, they differ in modal counts for pectoralfin rays and lateral scales. They also exhibit slight colour pattern differences related to the width of the dark midlateral stripe, which is generally narrower in Melanotaenia synergos, covering one and a half scale rows for most of its length versus 2 to 3 scale rows for Melanotaenia catherinae.
This species should not be confused with Melanotaenia batanta, another rainbowfish found on Batanta Island.
Etymology
The species is named to honour Peggy Dulany on the 20th anniversary of the Synergos Institute, which she founded in 1986 to create a more just and equitable global society.
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 synergos is currently only known from Batanta Island, which lies immediately west of the West Papuan mainland. Batanta is a small island approximately 55 kilometres long and 30–35 kilometres wide and is home to three separate species of rainbowfishes. They are mainly found around submerged logs, or branches in clear rainforest streams, in water temperatures between 18–28° Celsius. In May 2007, M. synergos were collected from a small clearwater creek with a sandy and muddy substrate flowing through dense forest on the eastern side of Batanta Island. Water conditions reported were: Temperature 26.0°C; pH 7.6 and conductivity 467 µS/cm.
Remarks
This species was first collected in 1992 by Heiko Bleher while exploring the freshwaters of Batanta Island. Gerry Allen tentatively identified the species as Melanotaenia misoolensis, which he described in 1982 from a collection held in the Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. However, as it turns out they were an undescribed species.
References
- Allen G.R. & P.J. Unmack (2008) A new species of rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae: Melanotaenia), from Batanta Island, western New Guinea. aqua International Journal of Ichthyology, 13(3-4): 109-120.