# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Paedocypris progenetica - Smallest vertebrate described!

## budak

From where else? Borneo's peat swamps!!

http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/news/index.ph...aedocypris.txt

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## Johnc

Also see

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060125...h_060125002310

Maybe Benny should visit the Raffles Museaum to get some nice shots.  :Smile:  

/John

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## Fei Miao

As usual,"Unfortunately, habitat destruction jeopardizes the survival of these fishes and thus opportunities for further research." :Sad:

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## benny

Picture from yahoo - An undated photo released by Cornol, Switzerland and Raffles Museum Singapore, shows a male Paedocypris fish. Scientists from Europe and Singapore say they have discovered the world's tiniest fish -- a species that lives in peat wetlands in Southeast Asia and, when fully grown, is the size of a large mosquito.(AFP/HO/Maurice Kottelat)


Interesting.....I'm sure Dr. Tan Heok Hui can show us the specimen...But it will be hell to photograph a live specimen.

Wonder if it's in the shops? At 7.9 mm, you can hardly see the fish at all, even in a nano tank.

Cheers,

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## Johnc

Ah... i have come to learn that if Benny can't do it, it will probably remain unphotographed except for dead specimens.  :Wink:

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## BFG

Do they school? It could be an ideal sp for nano tank.

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## benny

> Ah... i have come to learn that if Benny can't do it, it will probably remain unphotographed except for dead specimens.


Aiyoh....pressure man....

They have very nice pictures on the site that Budak recommended already. But I think no shops are carrying this fish. Otherwise, I would be more than happy to give it a shot (or in this case, a few shots).

Cheers,

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## wynx

It is on Today's afternoon edition today. I couldn't believe it.

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## budak

Unfortunately I heard that the specimens used in the paper are already in formalin..... so if want to take photos must DIY...

oh, the RMBR link now shows how they 'viewed' the fish....

Will post more details after I have gone through the juicy stuff...

ok. it seems that Paedocypris has an anatomical feature unique in fishes. It's a pelvic girdle in the male. which has highly modified abductor muscles and first pelvic-fin ray, which are thought to be used in reproduction as a clasping device to hold on to the female.

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## MrTree

this one loh. taken after their TetrBbits lunch buffet..

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## wynx

> this one loh. taken after their TetrBbits lunch buffet..


Lucky you... :Jump for joy:

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## ranmasatome

today on the news..lol

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## Weirong

I think my shrimps will take them for food...

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## spinex

Mentioned that this is currently the smallest fish in the world. Too bad they don't have a closeup photo.  :Crying:  

Choy > Got photo of that fish ??  :Grin:

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## lwm999

Also in today's ST with pictures.

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## spinex

Seem like AQ information is even faster. I thought it's another species.

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## spinex

A dream fish for shrimp tank. Too bad won't be available.

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## hwchoy

> Mentioned that this is currently the smallest fish in the world. Too bad they don't have a closeup photo.  
> 
> Choy > Got photo of that fish ??




I think both the species are smallest and second smallest on record. I don't think they will be readily available at LFS. The preview paper is available.

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## kuching

Sarawak species is the second smallest freshwater fish in the world, called Paedocypris micromegethes.....which is the one in the pix taken by me last year.They are swimming in school.

Not bad lah....got second place.

here you are....



another pix:

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## budak

Mr Tree!! Your pictures shows the Sumatran or Borneon species???

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## kuching

I think Mr tree one is from Sumatra? I never brought him to catch the Sarawak one before. :Smile:

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## budak

My review of the fish is here.

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## kuching

Interviewed with Dr Tan:

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story...490&sec=nation

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## budak

Some new pictures of the fish can be seen here, but more importantly are the links provided calling for awareness and action to save the region's least known biodiversity hotspots (and the source of many of our most beautiful fishes)!

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## na_cheers

Jan. 25, 2006  Scientists from Europe and Singapore say they have discovered the world's tiniest fish, a species that lives in peat wetlands in Southeast Asia and, when fully grown, is the size of a large mosquito.

The record-busting newcomer to the biodiversity book, Paedocypris progenetica, is a distant cousin of the carp, said the discoverers, who publish their findings on Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal.

Skinny and transparent, the elusive fish lives in highly-acid peat swamps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and in the Malaysian parts of Borneo that are threatened by forestry and agriculture.

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## budak

Update on the status of the fish in West Malaysia, from a researcher who worked with Dr. Tan HH:

_I was supposed to study the behaviour of Paedocypris for my Research project in NUS.

JANUARY 2005
I visited North Selangor Peat Swamp (NSPSF) with Dr Tan in January 2005 to collect this fish. We visited all the sites that the fish had been previously collected. We could not catch a single fish. On top of that, of other peat swamp species, we caught fewer fish species than previous collections in NSPSF.

This may have been because of two reason, 1) The fish is seasonal, 2) North Selangor was in the process of being drained for agriculture, the disturbance may have caused the species to go extinct. 

JULY 2005
I visited these same sites in July 2005. By this time the swamp was in worse condition. The streams were all nearly dry and overgrown with vegetation, we sampled here and again found no Paedocypris, and found even fewer fish species than we had in January. 

OVERVIEW
50 species of fish have been collected from North Selangor Peat swamp forest (NSPSF), 20 of which can only survive in the acid water conditions of peat swamp forests, and a further 5 species restricted to NSPSF.

Paedocypris sp.
Betta livida
Betta hipposideros
Parosphromenus harveyi
Encheloclarias curtisoma

North Selangor is nearly completely dry, in the process of being logged and converted to agriculture. If not alreay extinct, Paedocypris and the other 4 species listed above are safely on the way to extinction...._

The profile of the known Selangor habitat is detailed here.

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## spinex

It's really sad that these unique fish is going to be extinct soon. Hope the government will come up with some conversation effort to preserve some area from logging so these fish can continue to thrive in their natural environment.

Too much fauna and fishes are unknown in SEA. I guess most even extinct without us knowing they exist ...

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