Silver Arowana; most expensive and luxurious aquarium fish in Bangladesh
Silver Arowana; most expensive and luxurious aquarium fish in Bangladesh

Methodology:
Different aquarium shops of Katabon market in Dhaka city were surveyed between March and September 2008. Available shops, aquarium products in shops were noted down during field visit. Local name of the aquarium fishes were listed down and other related information was collected through interviews of the aquarium shop keepers.

Aquarium shops in Dhaka:
Katabon market, the most common and popular market in Dhaka city for aquariums and other aquarium products like aquarium fishes, aquarium foods, chemicals, toys, plants etc. At least 25 aquarium shops are available in this market where all kinds of aquarium products can be found.

Aquarium Fisheries in Dhaka 2
An aquarium shop at Katabon market in Dhaka city

Aquarium fishes and other aquarium species:
Ornamental live animals are the heart of an aquarium. Though several non-fish species are used as aquarium species but popularity of ornamental fishes are still high than non-fish species. A large number of aquarium fish species were recorded including both native and exotic species. The several indigenous colorful fish species were available in the shops but according to the sellers, these fishes were imported from foreign countries.

However some highly expensive fishes were recorded in the study area. Silver Arowana was the most expensive species (1,20,000 Taka per pair) followed by large sized Assorted Koi Carp (12,000 Taka per pair) and Oscar (500 Taka per pair). Retail price of a pair of any other available aquarium fishes were below 500 Taka.  List of recorded fishes are shown in the following table-

Serial No. Common / Local name Scientific name
01 Angel Pterophyllum scalare
02 Assorted Koi Carp Cyprinus carpio
03 Black Molly Poecilia sphenops
04 Black Moor Carassius auratus
05 Blue Gourami Trichogaster trichopterus
06 Branded Gourami Colisa fasciata
07 Calico Carassius auratus
08 Catfish
09 Comet Carassius auratus
10 Dwarf gourami Colisa lalia
11 Gold Fish Carassius auratus
12 Guppy Poecilia reticulata
13 Kissing Gourami Helostoma temmincki
14 Oscar Astronotus ocellatus
15 Palate
16 Pearl Gourami Trichogaster leeri
17 Piranha Pygocentrus nattereri
18 Rambo Epalzeorhynchos frenatus
19 Siamese Fighter Betta splendens
20 Convict Cichlid Archocentrus nigrofasciatus
21 Silver Arowana Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
22 Silver Dollar Metynnis hypsauchen
23 Sucker Mouth Catfish Hypostomus plecostomus
24 Sword Tail Xiphophorus helleri
25 Tiger Barb Barbus tetrazona
26 Tiger Shark Hexanematichthys seemanni
27 Timber Barb Puntius sp.
28 Zebra Danio rerio

Except fishes, two other animals namely turtle and Inca snail were found as an aquarium pet. Officials said that these animals were imported from adjacent foreign countries including India, Thailand etc.

Aquarium decoration:
For decorating aquarium, different plastic made plants, toys and other show pieces were available in the shops of the study area. Sometimes corals from Sent Martin Island or other sources are found to be sold in these shops. Price of these items varies with product type, its size etc.

Aquarium Fisheirs Dhaka
Aquarium decorative and plants

Other aquarium products:
Other aquarium products like different medicines, chemicals, fish foods etc. were common in each shop. Formulated packet feeds for aquarium species are imported from foreign countries. Foods are available in small to large sized packets. However aquarium handbooks were also available in some shops of Katabon market.

Aquarium- Fisheries in dhaka 3
Katabon Market: Most popular place for aquarium fishes and other pets in Dhaka city

Acknowledgment:
Author is highly grateful to his friends Roomi, Razib and Pavel for their remarkable cooperation during the survey.


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Aquarium Fisheries in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

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Shams Galib

Shams works in freshwater ecosystems, primarily on fish diversity in terms of their availability, and richness; he is also interested in aquatic invasive species and their impacts on ecosystem. Email: thegalib@gmail.com. More...

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