User:JulietW42/sandbox

Algae eater, also called an algivore, is a term used to refer to many species that feed on algae. Freshwater fish referred to as algae eaters are are commonly kept in the fishkeeping hobby.

Freshwater

A Plecostomus uses its mouth, shaped like a suction-cup, to attach itself to surfaces and scrape off algae.

Fish

There are many popular freshwater algae eaters that are kept in aquariums aquariums.

• Many loricariid catfish of South America, such as genera Otocinclus, Ancistrus, and Plecostomus, constantly graze algae and biofilm , although many species of "plecos", which attain an adult length of over 10 inches, eat much less frequently as they near adulthood.
• The Siamese algae eater, Crossocheilus oblongus, is a more gregarious and tolerant cyprinid that ranges up to 15 cm. It is one of the only fish that will graze on "black brush algae" (freshwater Rhodophyta, or red algae), but even so will eat anything else in preference.
• Fishes of the genus Gyrinocheilus, family Gyrinocheilidae. There are three species in this genus with the Chinese algae eater, Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, the most common. Small specimens make good community fish but may become territorial when older.
• American-flag fish, Jordanella floridae, are also dependable algae-eating fish. They are one of the only fish to graze on black brush algae, as with the siamese algae eater, and will also indiscriminately graze on other algae such as diatoms and hair algae. However, like all pupfish, they can be nippy to fish smaller or slower than them. Males can also be territorial.

Shrimp

Some freshwater shrimp are also excellent algae eaters:

• Almost all of them belong to the family Atyidae (the only family in the superfamily Atyoidea) including many genera:

• Caridina: red rhinoceros shrimp, bee shrimp, etc... One shrimp well known for its ability to clean an aquarium is the Amano Shrimp.
• Neocaridina: Neocaridina davidi (cherry shrimp), Neocaridina palmata, etc...

• Some of them belong to the genus Palaemonetes (grass shrimp)

Snails

Most species of freshwater snails, discounting most adult specimens of species belonging to the family Ampullariidae, which primarily subsist on aquatic plants as adults.

Saltwater

Some of the common and most popular marine aquarium algae eaters include:

Fish

• Surgeon fish or tangs are also known for their appetite for algae.
• Rabbitfish which eat most algae, including cyanobacteria, diatoms, and hair algae.
• Fishes in the suborder blennioidei are blennies.

Crabs

• Crabs of the genera Mithraculus and Mithrax.

Snails

Some snail species such as the Turbo, Astraea, Turban and Nerite snails.