Scientific Name:    Metzia formosae    
Nomenclater:    (Oshima, 1920)
Family:    F102  Cyprinidae
Holotype-Locality:    Near Manka, Taihoku, Taiwan
Habitats:    Fresh Water      
Economic Fish:     No
Habitats Depth:    0 - 5 M      
Aquarium Fish:     Yes
Poisonous Fish:    No      
Edible Fish:     No
Synonyms:    Ischikauia hainanensis, Metzia fanlingensis, Rasborinus formosae, Rasborinus yaii  
Reference:    Shen, S. C. (ed.) (1993). Fishes of Taiwan. Department of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei. 960 p. Tzeng CS (1996). The freshwater fishes of Taiwan. Taiwan Province Department of Education. Taichung. 183 p. Chen IS and Fang LS (1999). The fresh  Oshima, M. 1920 陳義雄,方力行 1999 陳義雄, 張詠青, 邵廣昭 2005 
Redlist Status:    2009-04-01COA, Taiwan Redlist: Vulnerable   Not in IUCN Redlist  
Common Name in Engulish:    Taiwan lesser-bream
Chinese Name transliteration:    
Distribution in Taiwan:    North
Distribution in World:    Taiwan
Max Lenth:     12 cm
Specimen List:     ANSP49952Holotype. ASIZP0064318. NMMSTP00837. NMNSF00186. NMNSF00267. NMNSF00765. NMNSF00875-A. NMNSF00875-F. NMNSF01502-A. NMNSF01502-F. NMNSF01567. NMNSF01577. NTHUB01865. NTUM02215.         
Characteristic:    Head small. Snout short. Eye large, interorbital space broad. Mouth superior, oblique; barbels absent. Body elongated, compressed; dorsal profile slightly arched; caudal peduncle slender; belly in front of pelvic fin origin rounded; keel on belly between pelvic fin origin and anus. Scales moderately large, cycloid, lateral line complete. L.l.：45-47; dorsal fin rays：2+8; pectoral fin rays：1+13; pelvic fin rays：1+7; anal fin rays：2+14. Dorsal fin origin at midline between snout tip and caudal peduncle end; pectoral fin end distant from pelvic fin origin; pectoral and pelvic fins at lower side of body; caudal fin forked. Grayish dorsally, silvery white ventrally. A conspicuously dark stripe on side of body from posterior margin of eye to caudal peduncle end.  
Habitats:    Primary freshwater fish, prefers still water at lower and middle reaches, common in ponds, lakes and backwater of rivers; rare. Polyphagia, feeds on water vegetation, diatom and aquatic insects.
Distribution:    Endemic to Taiwan, can be found in some drainage of northern Taiwan.
Utility:    Small in size, poorly noticed.

Text and images are provided by The Fish Datebase of Taiwan (Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)