Rohu: Labeo rohita
Rohu: Labeo rohita

 

Synonyms:

Cyprinus rohita: Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822.

Labeo rohita: Day, 1878; Bhuiyan, 1964; Shaw and Shebbeare, 1937.

Labeo horai: Fowler, 1924.

 

Common name: Rohu (English name)

Bangla name: Rui, Rohit, Rou

 

Taxonomic position:

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Osteichthyes

Order: Cypriniformes

Family: Cyprinidae

Sub family: Cyprininae

Genus: Labeo

Species: L. rohita 

 

Morphological description:

Body elongated. Highest body length is found at the commencement of dorsal fin. Snout fairly depressed, projecting beyond jaws, without any lateral lobe. Inter orbital space convex. Lips thick, fringed. Post labial grove continuous. A cartilaginous part is covering to inside of both lips. A pair of short maxillary barbells is present. Body colour is back brownish, silvery on sides and beneath. Dorsal and abdominal profiles are convex. Caudal peduncle is short. Lateral line is complete. Scales are moderate. The description is quite similar to Rahman, 2005; Talwar and Jhingran, 2001 and Bhuiyan, 1964.

 

Fin formula:

D. 3-4/11-14, P1.1/16-18, P2. 1/7-8. A. 2-3/4-6.

D. 3-4/12-14, P1.1/16-18, P2. 1/8. A. 2-3 (Talwar and Jhingran, 2001)

D. 3/12-13, P1.16-17, P2. 9. A. 2/5 (Rahman, 2005)

D. 15-16, P1.17-18, P2. 9. A. 7 (Bhuiyan, 1964)

Minimum and maximum value of scales number on the lateral line is 40 and 42 respectively. Minimum and maximum value of scales number above the lateral line is 7 and 8 respectively. Minimum and maximum number of scales is below the lateral line 6 and 8 respectively. Scales number mentioned by other writer are as follows, 41-42 scales above the lateral (Rahman, 2005), 40-44 scales above the lateral (Talwar and Jhingran, 2001).

 

Habit and habitat:

Labeo is bottom feeder and prefers to feed on plant matter including decaying vegetation. Its food comprises crustaceous and insect larvae in early stages (Mookerjee et al., 1946). Labeo rohita takes small percentages of mud which contains organic matter and various salts. This specie is available throughout Bangladesh. Ponds, rivers, rivulets are its main habitats (Bhuiyan, 1964).

 

Breeding time:

Rui attains maturity towards the end of the second year in ponds. The spawning season of Rui generally coincides with the southwest monsoon. Spawning takes place in flooded rivers (Bhuiyan, 1964).       

 

Economic importance:

Rui is regarded an excellent game fish and seems to put up a better fight in a river than in a tank. A number of inter specific and inter generic hybrids have been produced. It is very delicious food and supplies a huge amount of protein for the people (Rahman, 2005).            

 

Ecological role:

Middle dweller fish species. Sometimes come to the surface and bottom layer for finding food (Bhuiyan, 1964).

 

Marketing status:

Market price is varied from 120 to 140 Tk/kg.

 

 

References:

Bhuiyan, A.L. 1964. Fishes of Dacca. Asiatic Soc. Pakistan, Publ. No. 13, Dacca. p. 20.

Day, F. 1878. Fishes of India. William Dowson and Sons., London. p. 538.

Fowler, H.W. 1924. Notes and descriptions of Indian Freshwater fishes. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 12: p. 95.

Hamilton-Buchanan. 1822. Fishes of the Ganges. Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh. p. 301-388.

Rahman, A.K.A. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh. The Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka. p. 116.

Shaw, G.E. and Shebbeare, E.O. 1937. Fishes of Northern Bengal. J. Royal Asiat. Soc. Bengal Science. p. 57.

Talwar, P.K. and Jhingran, A.G. 2001. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent countries. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. p. 219.


Visited 23,300 times, 1 visits today | Have any fisheries relevant question?
Rohu: Labeo rohita

Visitors' Opinions

Tagged on:         

Ismat Ara Zakia

Ex-student, Department of Fisheries, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh. More...

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.