Leaffishes are small fishes of the family Polycentridae. According to FishBase, it only includes the genera Monocirrhus and Polycentrus from fresh and brackish water in tropical South America.[2] Although included in the Asian leaffish family Nandidae by FishBase,[3] most recent authorities place the African Afronandus and Polycentropsis in Polycentridae.[4] Polycentridae were formerly placed in the order Cichliformes but are now regarded as being incertae sedis in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha.[5]
All of these fishes are highly specialized ambush predators 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 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 water and copious amounts of live foods.
^Betancur-Rodriguez; et al. (2017). "Phylogenetic Classification of Bony Fishes Version 4". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17 (1): 162. doi:10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3. PMC 5501477. PMID 28683774.
^Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2019). "Polycentridae" in FishBase. February 2019 version.
^Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2019). "Nandidae" in FishBase. February 2019 version.
^Collins, R.A., R. Britz, and L. Ruber (2015). Phylogenetic systematics of leaffishes (Teleostei: Polycentridae, Nandidae). J Zoolog Syst Evol Res 53(4). doi:10.1111/jzs.12103
^J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 752. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
Leaffishes are small fishes of the family Polycentridae. According to FishBase, it only includes the genera Monocirrhus and Polycentrus from fresh and...
Family Grammatidae (basslets) Family Plesiopidae (roundheads) Family Polycentridae (South American leaffishes) Family Pomacentridae (damselfishes) Family...
Fishes of the World many recent authorities place Polycentropsis in Polycentridae. This species grows to a length of 8 centimetres (3.1 in) TL. It can...
place the two African genera in the South American leaffish family, Polycentridae, which is only distantly related to Nandus (the "true" Nandidae). Another...
fish or Leaffish may refer to: Nandidae, African and Asian leaffishes Polycentridae, South American leaffishes Pristolepididae, Asian leaffishes Taenianotus...
member of its family, a family which, with the families Nandidae and Polycentridae is a group of taxa which are sisters to the Anabantiformes and form...
family Nandidae by FishBase, most recent authorities place Afronandus in Polycentridae. The specific name honours the collector of the type, Leo Sheljuzhko...
South American leaffish, is a species of fish belonging to the family Polycentridae. It is found in the Amazon basin in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru...
Rüber, L. (2015). "Phylogenetic systematics of leaffishes (Teleostei: Polycentridae, Nandidae)" (PDF). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary...
Polycentrus is a genus of small fish belonging to the family Polycentridae. They are found in fresh and brackish water in northern South America and Trinidad...
CICHLIFORMES: Families AMBASSIDAE, GRAMMATIDAE, PLESIOPIDAE, OPISTOGNATHIDAE, POLYCENTRIDAE, EMBIOTOCIDAE and PHOLIDICHTHYIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology...
found in both Asia and Africa Pristolepididae, a family found in Asia Polycentridae, South American leaffish This disambiguation page lists articles associated...
CICHLIFORMES: Families AMBASSIDAE, GRAMMATIDAE, PLESIOPIDAE, OPISTOGNATHIDAE, POLYCENTRIDAE, EMBIOTOCIDAE and PHOLIDICHTHYIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology...
as the Guyana leaffish is a species of fish belonging to the family Polycentridae. It inhabits fresh and brackish waters, both clear and turbid, of the...
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