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Marble Hatchet Fish

Pez hacha de mármol
Theme area:  Amazonía
Scientific name:  Carnegiella strigata
Class:  Fish
Continent:  South America
Habitat:  Rivers, marshes, swamps and lakes
Diet:  Omnivore
Weight:   /
Size:  4 cm
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The Marble Hatchet Fish is native to Peru. It lives in slow-moving rivers and lagoons with densely vegetated banks.

Its pectoral fins are elongated and have highly developed muscles, which allow it to leap out of the water and glide. It leaps to escape predators and to attack potential prey, such as insects.

There is no clear sexual dimorphism and the female can only be identified when she is about to spawn because she has an exaggerated belly bulge.

She lays her eggs amongst fine-leaved plants where they attach themselves and hatch after 30 hours.

Conservation status
Extinct
Extinct in the wild
Critically endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
Near threatened
Least concern
Insufficient data
Not evaluated

DID YOU KNOW ...

They are known as hatchet fish, because of their special morphology, which resembles the shape of an axe or hatchet.
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