Amazon leaffish

Amazon leaffish
Amazon leaffish in its usual head-down position
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Polycentridae
Genus: Monocirrhus
Species:
M. polyacanthus
Binomial name
Monocirrhus polyacanthus
Heckel, 1840
Synonyms

Monocirrhus mimophyllus Eigenmann & Allen, 1921

The Amazon leaffish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus), or South American leaffish, is a species of fish belonging to the family Polycentridae. It is found in the Amazon basin in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela,[1][2] where it inhabits edges of rivers and lakes, and streams.[3] It is generally a low-density species that lives in slow-moving or essentially stagnant waters in areas with plant debris.[2][3]

Amazon leaffish are sometimes kept in aquariums, but they require acidic water, low light and live prey.[2]

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Monocirrhus polyacanthus". FishBase. July 2018 version.
  2. ^ a b c "Monocirrhus polyacanthus". SeriouslyFish. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b Catarino, M.F.; J. Zuanon (2010). "Feeding ecology of the leaf fish Monocirrhus polyacanthus (Perciformes: Polycentridae) in a terra firme stream in the Brazilian Amazon". Neotrop. Ichthyol. 8 (1): 183–186. doi:10.1590/S1679-62252010000100022.