Melanotaenia nigrans is a small freshwater fish up to 8 centimeters long. It has a wide black stripe along its entire side, and its body can shimmer with olive and silvery shades.
Melanotaenia nigrans differs from other rainbowfish with a wide black stripe along its entire body. It serves as an important link in the food chain of Australian rivers, eating small insects and serving as food for larger fish.
Collects food at the water surface, among plants and in the water column.
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
Worker
birth time
bottom
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
detritus, eat dead remains of plants, animals and all kinds of organic debris on the bottom
days
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
organic debris
plant
About health
marine coastal
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
shallow water
Colors
Caudal fin color
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
all seas and oceans
Trophic type
Filters
Upcoming birthdays
standing fresh waters — lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
leaf
insect larvae and caterpillars
Age (from birth to death)
Foraging occurs on the floor of aquatic or terrestrial habitats.
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
algae
world of Australasia
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Caudal fin size
zones of mixing fresh and sea water — river deltas, estuaries
Lifespan average
Regeneration
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
hot, there is a dry season, trees shed their leaves
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
swampy freshwater biotopes — peat bogs, marshes, river mangroves
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Freshwater
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
Egg count
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
where the river flows into the sea, slightly salty water, lots of fish and birds
Pets
all rivers and lakes
Primary oral structure used to seize, manipulate, or ingest food.
Tropical dry broadleaf forest
{name} jubilee
cm
zooplankton feeding, animal plankton — small crustaceans and larvae
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
mouth
turns
islands and part of Australia, many unusual animals and plants
Rascals
Flooded grasslands
Litter size
Tropical savanna
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Egg color
Where are they found?
Species lacks any fixed or lasting shelter structure.
Dorsal fin size
all rivers and lakes
estuary and delta
Locomotion through water employed while searching for or capturing prey.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
lakes and ponds
freshwater marsh and wetlands
Taxons
freshwater pelagic
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
swimming
no permanent shelter
Close
water column
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
3 to 8 grams, 0.5 – 5 centimeters
primary food sources
Potential Habitat
d
In husbandry
Feeds while suspended in open water between surface and bottom.
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Feeding occurs in water bodies such as rivers, lakes, or oceans.
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
Body size
islands and part of Australia, many unusual animals and plants
aquatic
{name} birthday
Food is gathered directly from leaf surfaces.
No results found
On the map
lunge
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Body color
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
open water in the water column of a freshwater body, away from the bottom and shore
birth year
Maturity
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
Egg size
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Neither
zoo-plankton
What do they eat?
insect larvae
Where do they live?
Marine world
vegetated areas
early young
water often floods the land, lots of grass
River estuary into the sea
Freshwater
small insects
Duration
saline marine habitat
This is me
freshwater
Gamers
aquatic plants and algae
How are they built?
marine
shallow near the shore, water rises and falls, crabs live here
small insects without further specification
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
coastal marine zone — shelf, neritic zone
My age?
wk
My size?
Dorsal fin color
Asexual
swap
freshwater environment — rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Warm summer and lots of rain
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Littoral Zone
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
world of Australasia
foraging
Berry
Hermaphrodite ⚥
embryo
Length
kg
lots of rain, warm and pleasant summer
Rapid forward strike to seize prey.
Observations
◉{N} more on tap