Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Lakamora Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lakamora), recorded as Endangered
Lakamora Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lakamora). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Lakamora Rainbowfish

Melanotaenia lakamora

The relatively small species is endemic to two small lakes in southern West New Guinea.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Melanotaenia lakamora
Taxonomy
Atheriniformes · Melanotaeniidae · Melanotaenia

The rainbowfish

Rainbowfishes are slender, schooling freshwater fishes of New Guinea and Australia, usually from a named river or lake.

Silversides and rainbowfishes are usually slender schooling fishes of lakes, estuaries, or clear streams.

Range and habitat

The Lakamora rainbowfish is only found in the two lakes Lakamora and Aiwaso, that are a few square kilometers in size, fifty kilometers east of the port city of Kaimana near Triton Bay in southern West Papua. The two lakes are a few hundred meters apart and are separated by a hundred-meter-high mountain ridge. The lakebed consists of calcareous rock and the lakes are surrounded by forested hills.

GBIF currently lists 2 occurrence points. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Habits

Silversides and rainbowfishes need clear water and a place to school. A lake form does not commute to the next basin.

In crisis

Lakamora Rainbowfish is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the German Wikipedia article on Lakamora-Regenbogenfisch, translated and retold in English, plus Wikidata item Q1800831 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Confirm status and range on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Lake Kurumoi rainbowfish (Melanotaenia parva), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Lake Kurumoi rainbowfish

Melanotaenia parva
Photograph of Kokas Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia kokasensis), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Kokas Rainbowfish

Melanotaenia kokasensis
Photograph of Bosemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani), recorded as EndangeredEN

Bosemani Rainbow

Melanotaenia boesemani
Photograph of Fly River rainbowfish (Melanotaenia sexlineata), recorded as EndangeredEN

Fly River rainbowfish

Melanotaenia sexlineata

Quick answers

What is Lakamora Rainbowfish?
The Lakamora rainbowfish from the rainbowfish family was discovered by Heiko Bleher on a collecting trip in 1995 and brought to Europe for aquarium keeping. The relatively small species is endemic to two small lakes in southern West New Guinea.
What is the conservation status of Lakamora Rainbowfish?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Melanotaenia lakamora. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Lakamora Rainbowfish live?
The Lakamora rainbowfish is only found in the two lakes Lakamora and Aiwaso, that are a few square kilometers in size, fifty kilometers east of the port city of Kaimana near Triton Bay in southern West Papua.
Why is Lakamora Rainbowfish in crisis?
It is Endangered on Wikidata. Read the official Red List assessment for the criteria.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Melanotaenia lakamora?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Lakamora Rainbowfish a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.