Scientific name:
Atherinidae

Natural spread:
moderated and tropical seas

head-fish is mainly long-stretched, and most types are colored silvery. they occur in restrained and tropical seas where they often form big swarms in coast-proximity. In many places, they are also fished, however there the most relatively small is, they don't have any big economic meaning.

One finds some types of the type Atherina also in the European coast-waters. The little one head-fish (Atherina mochon) even advances as far as into rivers and seas of Southern Europe.

Only, the sunbeam-fish or Celebes-Segelfish (Telmatherina ladigesi), who are known above all under Aquarienfreunden, live in the freshwater.

With the males this beautifully colored, tender, almost transparent fish-type moved out the first rays of the back and anus-fin long.

Another Californian type, the Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis), is to be mentioned particularly. These fish have a from the moon-phase dependent, uncommon reproductive-behavior; they spawn only outside the water in the wet sand from. With Springflut, the animals run on the beach at night, the females dig themselves in half and spawn, from the inseminating male narrowly embraced, the eggs in approximately 5 cm of depth from. Only with the next Springflut after two weeks, the eggs are free-rinsed by the water, and the very fast-growing fish-larvae can hatch.