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Flagtail Prochilodus
Cliff, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Characins, piranhas & tetras

Flagtail Prochilodus

Semaprochilodus insignis (Jardine, 1841)

LC Least Concern

Names

EnglishFlagtail Prochilodus
Dutch—
SpanishYarakí
Chinese真唇脂鲤
Scientific nameSemaprochilodus insignis (Jardine, 1841)

About this species

Semaprochilodus insignis, the kissing prochilodus or flag-tailed prochilodus, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Prochilodontidae, the bocachicos or flannel-mouth characiformes. It is native to central and western parts of the Amazon basin. It is migratory, moving in large groups into whitewater rivers to spawn, afterwards returning to blackwater and clearwater rivers, as well as flooded forests. It is important in fisheries and sometimes seen in the aquarium trade, but requires a relatively large tank. It can reach a maximum standard length of 27.5 cm (10.8 in) and weight of 560 g (1.23 lb). It generally resembles the other members of the genus Semaprochilodus, but this species possesses yellow fins as opposed to the red in the other species except for S. kneri, which it closely resembles, differing only in some traits of meristics and osteology. Adult S. insignis lack the dark flank spots that can be seen in adult S. taeniurus, but both species have these spots as juveniles.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
OrderCharaciformes
FamilyProchilodontidae
GenusSemaprochilodus

Related species in Suriname