Animalia Life

Nandus nandus
FAMILY
Nandidae
TAXONOMY
Nandus nandus Hamilton, 1822, Gangetic Provinces of India.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Typically basslike; pale olive-bronze color with loosely arranged vertical brownish olive bands along the flank and extending into dorsal fin. Noted for its sharp dorsal, pelvic, and anal spines.
DISTRIBUTION
From Pakistan east to Thailand.
HABITAT
Benthopelagic in freshwater ponds, ditches, flooded fields, lakes, reservoirs, canals, rivers, and estuaries.
BEHAVIOR
Often cryptic and holding to cover from where it can ambush prey.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Gangetic leaffishes are predators that feed upon smaller fishes and aquatic insects.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Gonochoristic. Males clean a spawning site, usually a rock or leaf, and then court the female, who spawns around 200–400 demersal eggs that are fertilized by the male. Male parental care has been observed in aquaria.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
A prized food fish. Juveniles may also be taken for the aquarium trade.

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