Nomorhamphus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Ovalentaria
Superordo: Atherinomorphae
Ordo: Beloniformes
Subordo: Belonoidei
Superfamilia: Scomberesocoidea

Familia: Zenarchopteridae
Genus: Nomorhamphus
Species (20): N. australis – N. bakeri – N. brembachi – N. celebensis – N. ebrardtii – N. hageni – N. kolonodalensis – N. lanceolatus – N. liemi – N. manifesta – N. megarrhamphus – N. pectoralis – N. philippina – N. pinnimaculata – N. ravnaki – N. rossi – N. rex – N. sagittarius – N. sanussii – N. towoetii – N. vivipara – N. weberi
Name

Nomorhamphus Weber & de Beaufort, 1922

Gender: masculine

Type species: Nomorhamphus celebensis Weber & de Beaufort, 1922, by subsequent designation by Jordan, 1923
Synonyms

Rhamphodermogenys (subgenus of Dermogenys) Fowler & Bean, 1922

References

Weber, M. & L. F. de Beaufort; 1922: The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. IV. Heteromi, Solenichthyes, Synentognathi, Percesoces, Labyrinthici, Microcyprini. E. J. Brill, Leiden. The Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. 4: i-xiii + 1-410.
Nomorhamphus and its species (including synonyms) in Catalog of Fishes, Eschmeyer, W.N., Fricke, R. & van der Laan, R. (eds.) 2021. Catalog of Fishes electronic version.

Links

Nomorhamphus – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Nomorhamphus is a southeast Asian genus of viviparous halfbeaks from streams, rivers and lakes in Sulawesi (Indonesia) and the Philippines. They are all viviparous, producing small clutches of around a dozen fry about 10 to 15 mm long at birth. Females are generally larger than the males. In the largest species, such as Nomorhamphus liemi, the females typically reach about 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, whereas the males reach about 6–7 cm (2.4–2.8 in) in length. Males are also more brightly coloured than the females (often having red, black, or blue patches on their fins). Compared with many other halfbeaks, the lower mandible, or beak, is relatively short, on females in particular barely protruding beyond the length of the upper mandible. The males of some species (e.g., N. ebrardtii) have short, straight beaks, but those of others (e.g., N. liemi) have short beaks that curve downwards forming a shape often compared to a goatee beard by aquarists. N. aenigma is unique within Nomorhamphus because of its lack of lower jaw elongation.[1]

Nomorhamphus feed extensively on small insects, either in the form of aquatic larvae or as flying insects that have fallen onto the surface of the water. They are important predators on insects such as mosquitoes, so play a role in controlling malaria. Nomorhamphus are too small to be of value as food, but they do have some value as aquarium fish.

Reproduction
A young Nomorhamphus about seven days old and about 18 mm (0.7 in) in length, lacks the prominent beak of the adults.
A pair of Nomorhamphus

Nomorhamphus species are livebearing fish that practise internal fertilisation. The male is equipped with a gonopodium-like anal fin known as a gonopodium that delivers sperm into the female. The gestation period is about six weeks. The exact mode of reproduction ranges from ovoviviparity through to viviparity, and in some species, oophagy is known, as well. Only around ten to twenty embryos are developed at a time, but at birth these are fairly large (around 13 mm or 0.5 in) and well developed, able to take small prey, such as Daphnia, immediately after birth.
Species

There are currently 20 recognized species in this genus:

Nomorhamphus aenigma Kobayashi, Masengi & Yamahira, 2020[1]
Nomorhamphus bakeri Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1922
Nomorhamphus brembachi D. Vogt, 1978
Nomorhamphus celebensis M. C. W. Weber & de Beaufort, 1922 (Poso halfbeak)
Nomorhamphus ebrardtii Popta, 1912
Nomorhamphus hageni Popta, 1912
Nomorhamphus kolonodalensis A. D. Meisner & Louie, 2000
Nomorhamphus lanceolatus Huylebrouck, Hadiaty & Herder, 2014 [2]
Nomorhamphus liemi D. Vogt, 1978
Nomorhamphus manifesta A. D. Meisner, 2001
Nomorhamphus megarrhamphus Brembach, 1982
Nomorhamphus pectoralis Fowler, 1934
Nomorhamphus philippina Ladiges, 1972
Nomorhamphus pinnimaculata A. D. Meisner, 2001
Nomorhamphus rex Huylebrouck, Hadiaty & Herder, 2012 [3]
Nomorhamphus rossi A. D. Meisner, 2001
Nomorhamphus sagittarius Huylebrouck, Hadiaty & Herder, 2014 [2]
Nomorhamphus towoetii Ladiges, 1972
Nomorhamphus vivipara W. K. H. Peters, 1865
Nomorhamphus weberi Boulenger, 1897

References

Kobayashi, Hirozumi; Masengi, Kawilarang W. A.; Yamahira, Kazunori (2020-09-22). "A New "Beakless" Halfbeak of the Genus Nomorhamphus from Sulawesi (Teleostei: Zenarchopteridae)". Copeia. 108 (3): 522–531. doi:10.1643/CI-19-313. ISSN 0045-8511.
Huylebrouck, J., Hadiaty, R.K. & Herder, F. (2014): Two new species of viviparous halfbeaks (Atherinomorpha: Beloniformes: Zenarchopteridae) endemic to Sulawesi Tenggara, Indonesia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 62: 200–209.

Huylebrouck, J., Hadiaty, R.K. & Herder, F. (2012): Nomorhamphus rex, a new species of viviparous halfbeak (Atherinomorpha: Beloniformes: Zenarchopteridae) endemic to Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 60 (2): 477-485.