''Monodactylus argenteus'' is a species of fish in the family Monodactylidae, the moonyfishes. Its common names include silver moonyfish, or natal moony,Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors
''Monodactylus argenteus''.
FishBase. 2017. butter bream, and diamondfish.''Monodactylus argenteus''.
Fishes of Australia. It is native to the western Pacific and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

s, including the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, and associated estuaries, such as the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

. This species reaches a maximum length of about 27 centimeters. It is bright shiny silver with yellowish edges to the fins. The dorsal and anal fins have black tips. Juveniles have more yellow coloration and are distinguished by two vertical black bands.Kang, C., et al. (2012)
Effects of low environmental salinity on the cellular profiles and expression of Na, K-ATPase and Na, K, 2Cl 2 cotransporter 1 of branchial mitochondrion-rich cells in the juvenile marine fish ''Monodactylus argenteus''.
''Fish Physiol Biochem'' 38 665–678. Fishes Mada

This species occurs in a wide variety of habitat types, including the open ocean, brackish waters, and the freshwater habitat of rivers. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

it can be found in harbors and

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

around piers. Its ability to survive in a wide range of

salinities Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to ...

makes it a

model organism A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mo ...

in the study of salinity tolerance.Yang, S., et al. (2015
Comparisons of two types of teleostean pseudobranchs, silver moony (''Monodactylus argenteus'') and tilapia (''Oreochromis mossambicus''), with salinity‑dependent morphology and ion transporter expression.
''J Comp Physiol B''185 677–693. Juveniles are especially tolerant to salinity changes, easily maintaining homeostasis in variable environments such as estuaries. Although the silver moony displays territorial behavior, the species can be kept in saltwater aquaria and is easy to rear in captivity. It can remain solitary or form schools. It is a

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...

and

planktivore A planktivore is an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. Planktivorous organisms encompass a range of some of the planet's smallest to largest multicellular animals in both the present day and i ...

. The

myxozoa Myxozoa (etymology: Greek: μύξα ''myxa'' "slime" or "mucus" + thematic vowel o + ζῷον ''zoon'' "animal") is a subphylum of aquatic cnidarian animals – all obligate parasites. It contains the smallest animals ever known to have lived. ...

n parasite '' Kudoa monodactyli'' was first described from and named after this fish.Gunter, N. L., et al. (2006)
Characterization of ''Kudoa monodactyli'' n. sp.(Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) from the muscle of ''Monodactylus argenteus'' (Teleostei: Monodactylidae) from Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.
''The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology'' 53(5), 374. Additionally, the second word of its binomial name is derivative of "argentum", which is Latin for "silver", likely relating to its silver hue.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Monodactylidae Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus