Leaffishes are small fishes of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Polycentridae. According to

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, it only includes the genera '' Monocirrhus'' and '' Polycentrus'' from fresh and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water in tropical South America. Although included in the Asian leaffish family

Nandidae Nandidae, the leaffish, are a family of small freshwater fishes which some authorities classify in the order Anabantiformes, but which the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies the family and the related Badidae and Pristolepididae o ...

by FishBase, most recent authorities place the African ''

Afronandus The fourspine leaffish (''Afronandus sheljuzhkoi''), is a species of in the Nandidae native to rivers and streams in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Although placed in the family Nandidae by FishBase, most recent authorities place ''Afronandus'' in Polyc ...

'' and ''

Polycentropsis the African leaffish (''Polycentropsis abbreviata'') is a species of African leaffish native to fresh waters of western Africa. Although placed in the family Nandidae by FishBase and by the 5th Edition of ''Fishes of the World'' many recent auth ...

'' in Polycentridae.Collins, R.A., R. Britz, and L. Ruber (2015). Phylogenetic systematics of leaffishes (Teleostei: Polycentridae, Nandidae). J Zoolog Syst Evol Res 53(4). Polycentridae were formerly placed in the order Cichliformes but are now regarded as being ''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

'' in the subseries

Ovalentaria Ovalentaria is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the Percomorpha, referred to as a subseries. It is made up of a group of fish families which are referred to in ''Fishes of the World's'' fifth edition as'' incertae sedis'', as well as the ord ...

in the clade

Percomorpha Percomorpha () is a large clade of ray-finned fish that includes the tuna, seahorses, gobies, cichlids, flatfish, wrasse, perches, anglerfish, and pufferfish. Evolution Percomorpha are the most diverse group of teleost fish today. Teleosts, a ...

. All of these fishes are highly specialized ambush

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

that resemble leaves, down to the point that their swimming style resembles a drifting leaf (thus the common name leaf fish); when a prey animal - such as an aquatic insect or smaller fish - comes within range, the fish attacks, swallowing the prey potentially within a quarter of a second. To aid in this lifestyle, all members of the family have large heads, cryptic colors, and very large protractile mouths capable of taking

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

items nearly as large as they are. These intriguing behaviors have given the family a niche in the aquarium hobby; however, none of these species are easy to maintain in aquariums, requiring very clean, soft,

acidic In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a s ...

water and copious amounts of live

foods Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inges ...

Genera and species

* Genus '' Monocirrhus'' Heckel, 1840 ** '' Monocirrhus polyacanthus'' Heckel, 1840 (Amazon leaffish) * Genus '' Polycentrus''

Müller Müller may refer to: * ''Die schöne Müllerin'' (1823) (sometimes referred to as ''Müllerlieder''; ''Müllerin'' is a female miller) is a song cycle with words by Wilhelm Müller and music by Franz Schubert * Doctor Müller, fictional character ...

& Troschel, 1849 ** '' Polycentrus jundia''

Coutinho Coutinho is a Nobility, noble Portuguese language surname. It is a diminutive of Couto (Couto means 'enclosed pasture'). It is from Late Latin ''cautum'', from the past participle of ''cavere'' ‘to make safe.' It may refer to: Artists *Afrânio ...

& Wosiacki, 2014 ** '' Polycentrus schomburgkii''

& Troschel, 1849 (Guyana leaffish)

References

Ovalentaria {{ray-finned fish-stub