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"The flagfish (Jordanella floridae), also known as the American flagfish or Florida flagfish, is a pupfish from the family Cyprinodontidae which is endemic to Florida. It is found in the aquarium trade. Its common name derives from the dominant males' body pattern, which bears some resemblance the "stars and stripes". Description Flagfish are small, robust fish, in length, with a truncated snout which has been compared to a bulldogs. They have rounded fins with the dorsal and anal fins positioned posteriorly and adjoining the caudal fin. Females have an obvious spot on their flanks and a clear spot near the posterior end of the dorsal fin, this has an opaque white margin. The fins may be show a slight reddish colour but this comes and goes in any individual but the reason for this is unknown. The females body is mainly olive but marked with turquoise scales. The common name of the Flagfish is derived from the male due to the resemblance of its patterning to the flag of the United States. There is a dark rectangle on the shoulder which is imagined as the blue and white stars in the corner of the US flag and there are stripes along the flanks, some of which are red and others paler, albeit greenish rather than white. The male also has a dark spot positioned at the lower posterior corner of the dark rectangle. The olive-grey colouration and pattern of nondominant males, females, and juveniles underlies the more colourful pattern of the dominant males. Distribution The flagfish is endemic to Florida where it is found in the Florida Peninsula south of the drainage basins of the St. Johns River and Ochlockonee River. Habitat and biology The flagfish normally occurs in shallow, well vegetated freshwater habitats such as backwaters, marshes, canals and ditches but it is occasionally been recorded in slightly brackish water. The flagfish is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the species of fish which lays the fewest eggs, a female will lay 20 eggs over a period of a few days. They have a courtship display in which the female encourages the male to chase her by nipping him. After that they face each other with the female swimming backwards, the male then backflips. After the eggs are laid the male guards them, attacking fish which stray too close. However, the male may also eat his own eggs or offspring. Other sources say that this species shows no parental care. This species is omnivorous, it is a micropredator feeding on small invertebrates and zooplankton but it will also feed on algae and other plant material. Taxonomy and name The flagfish was described by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean in 1879 with the type locality given as Lake Monroe, Florida. The generic name honours the American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan (1851-1931). It is closely related to the Yucatan flagfish Garmanella pulchra which is sometimes also placed in the genus Jordanella. References External links * Florida flagfish entry on Brackish FAQ * Florida flagfish at Wet Web Media Cyprinodontidae Fauna of the Southeastern United States Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States Fish described in 1879 Taxa named by George Brown Goode Taxa named by Tarleton Hoffman Bean "
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"Comet Machholz, formally designated C/2004 Q2, is a long-period comet discovered by Donald Machholz on August 27, 2004. It reached naked eye brightness in January 2005. Unusual for such a relatively bright comet, its perihelion was farther from the Sun than the Earth's orbit. Period Pleiades cluster in 2005. Given the orbital eccentricity of this object, different epochs can generate quite different heliocentric unperturbed two- body best-fit solutions to the aphelion distance (maximum distance) of this object. For objects at such high eccentricity, the Suns barycentric coordinates are more stable than heliocentric coordinates. Using JPL Horizons the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2050 generate a semi-major axis of 537 AU and a period of approximately 12,400 years. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0) This gives it a barycentric orbital period just a little larger than Sedna. There are six other long-period comets named Machholz: C/1978 R3 (a.k.a. 1978 XIII, 1978l), C/1985 K1 (a.k.a. 1985 VIII, 1985e), C/1988 P1 (a.k.a. 1988 XV, 1988j), C/1992 N1 (a.k.a. 1992 XVII, 1992k), C/1994 T1 (a.k.a. 1994 XXVII, 1994r), and C/2010 F4. In addition, there are C/1992 F1 (Tanaka-Machholz), C/1994 N1 (Nakamura-Nishimura-Machholz) and C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto). See also * 96P/Machholz * 141P/Machholz and fragments References External links * Sky and Telescope — Comet Machholz in the Evening Sky * Sky and Telescope — Catch Comet Machholz at Its Best * The Discovery of Comet Machholz (discoverer's personal retelling) * Gallery of images Non-periodic comets 20040827 "