The Telmatherinidae, the sail-fin silversides are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
atheriniform fish,
inhabiting fresh and brackish water. All but the species ''
Kalyptatherina helodes'' are restricted to the Indonesian island of
Sulawesi
Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
, and most are found solely in the Malili Lake system, consisting of
Matano and
Towuti, and the small
Lontoa (Wawantoa),
Mahalona and
Masapi.
[Gray, S.M., and J.S. McKinnon (2006). ''A comparative description of mating behaviour in the endemic telmatherinid fishes of Sulawesi's Malili Lakes.'' Environmental Biology of Fishes 75: 471–482][Herder, F.; J. Schwarzer; J. Pfaender; R.K. Hadiaty; and U.K. Schliewen (2006). ]
Preliminary checklist of sailfin silversides (Teleostei: Telmatherinidae) in the Malili Lakes of Sulawesi (Indonesia), with a synopsis of systematics and threats.
'' Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ichthyologie Band 5: 139–163. They were formerly treated as a subfamily of the Melanotaeniidae.[ though the largest ''Paratherina'' can reach almost twice that size.][ They are named for the sail-like shape of their first ]dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...
in the males, which are also brightly coloured, compared with the females.
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1888483
Melanotaeniidae
Fish subfamilies