The southern saratoga (''Scleropages leichardti''), also known as the spotted bonytongue, spotted saratoga, or simply saratoga, is a

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

bony fish Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...

native to

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 belongs to the subfamily

Osteoglossinae Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaiminae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy sca ...

, or

arowana Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaiminae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy sca ...

s, a primitive group of

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

s. Like all arowanas, it is a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

. Along with the gulf saratoga (''

Scleropages jardinii ''Scleropages jardinii'', the Gulf saratoga, Australian bonytongue, pearl arowana or northern saratoga, is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia and New Guinea, one of two species of fishes sometimes known as Australian arowana, the other be ...

''), the saratoga is also known as the Australian arowana (mainly by non-Australian aquarists) and barramundi, although the latter name is nowadays reserved in Australia for the unrelated '' Lates calcarifer''. This

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

is found in turbid waters and has a more restricted distribution than the other ''Scleropages'' native to Australia, ''

''.

Description

Southern saratoga can grow up to . At sexual maturity, they are usually in length. They are primitive, surface-dwelling fish with strongly compressed bodies. They have an almost perfectly flat back, with a dorsal fin set back towards the tail of their long bodies. In colouration, they are dark brown to olive green along the back, with lighter sides and a white belly. The large, bony scales have small orange or red dots. The lower jaw slopes steeply upwards and carries two fleshy barbels on the chin. Like all ''Scleropages'', ''S. leichardti'' is a long-bodied fish with large scales, large pectoral fins, and small paired

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprini ...

s on its lower jaw. Each scale on its dark coloured body has a red or pink spot; this feature distinguishes it from ''S. jardinii'', which has several reddish spots on each scale in a crescent shape. ''S. leichardti'' is a slimmer fish than other ''Scleropages''; a fish was weighed at only , compared to , for a ''S. jardinii'' of similar length. The depth of its body is 23–25% of its Standard Length, and it has fewer fin rays than ''S. jardinii''. It is a popular aquarium fish, although it will eat other fish, shrimp, yabbies etc., that are in the tank.

Distribution and habitat

Southern saratoga are native to the Fitzroy River system.Hollaway, M. and Hamlyn, A. (2001). ''Freshwater Fishing in Queensland: A guide to stocked waters''. Second edition. Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane. They are commonly found in freshwater impoundments on the Mary, Dawson and Burnett rivers. Stocks have also been introduced to dams on the Brisbane, North Pine and Noosa Rivers. Southern saratoga prefer still waters and slow flowing sections of rivers and can be found sheltering in lily-pads or below fallen timber. They are very aggressive and territorial fish.

Conservation status

This species is not currently listed on any

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

appendix

Its

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

status is Lower Risk/near threatened (LT/nt

Although it does not occur naturally in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, it is a protected species in that country. It has been stocked in a number of dams in

Queensland, Australia Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

References

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q174075 southern saratoga Freshwater fish of Queensland southern saratoga southern saratoga