White Cloud Mountain minnow

Description

The White Cloud Mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes) is a hardy species of freshwater fish and coldwater fish often kept in an aquarium. The species is a member of the carp family (family Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes, native to China. The White Cloud Mountain minnow is practically extinct in its native habitat, due to pollution and tourism. It was believed to be extinct for over 20 years in 1980, but an apparently native population of this fish was discovered on Hainan Island, well away from the White Cloud Mountain. They are bred in farms and are easily available through the aquarium trade. However, inbreeding in farms has led to genetically weak stock that is vulnerable to disease and prone to physical deformities. The species was discovered at White Cloud Mountain (Pinyin Bái Yún Shān) in the city of Guǎngzhōu at the province of Guǎngdōng around the 1930s by a Boy Scout leader called Tan, hence the generic name Tanichthys (Tan's fish). The specific name albonubes is from the Latin alba nubes (white cloud). The fish are sold in the aquarium trade under a variety of names, including White Cloud, White Cloud Mountain fish, White Cloud minnow, etc. The names Canton or China danio (although it is not a member of the genus Danio or a danionin) and cardinal fish are also encountered. In Chinese the fish is known as (táng yu), (Guǎngdōng xìjì), or (pānshì xìjì). Aphyocypris pooni is an obsolete synonym for this species; it was coined to designate a color variety which is now known to be the same species as the White Cloud Mountain minnow. This species grows to approximately 4 cm (roughly 1.5 in) in overall length, and is silver-green in color with a bright red caudal and dorsal fin. Several varieties have been developed through the fish's domestication, one with bright light edges to the dorsal and anal fins and one with red edges to those fins. The species can also be found in a golden cultivar and a rosy pink variety that displays red on all of the fins, and all color morphs can have long finnage. Sexual dimorphism is slight but noticeable. The male generally has brighter colors and a slimmer body, and the male's dorsal and anal fins are wide and fan-shaped, whereas those of the female are triangular and wedge-shaped. Females also present a whiter, distended abdomen. The White Cloud Mountain minnow is an opportunistic omnivore. It will commonly feed on a variety of sea grasses and insect larvae. They particularly relish mosquito and shrimp.