Sucker head, Garra gotyla gotyla
Sucker head, Garra gotyla gotyla

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Cyprinidae (Minnows and carps)
Genus: Garra
Species: G. gotyla gotyla

Synonyms
Cyprinus gotyla Gray, 1830
Discognathus jerdoni kangrae Prashad, 1919
Discognathus kangrae Prashad, 1919
Garra gotyla (Gray, 1830)
Garra kangrae (Prashad, 1919)
Garra montisalsi Hora, 1921

Common/local names
English: Gotyla and sucker head
Bangladesh: Ghor poia (ঘর পোয়া)
India: Siltoka, Kurka and Shingacha-mallaya (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Distributions: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and upper Myanmar (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Body elongate, subcylindrical to compressed. Mouth arched or semi-circular or inferior. A suctorial disc on chin. Snout with well developed median proboscis and a transverse lobe at tips. Two pairs of barbels present (maxillary and rostral). Dorsal fin inserted nearer to tip of snout. 32 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 32-35 (Tawar and Jhingran, 1991) scales on lateral line.

Head 3.6-3.8 in standard, 4.5-4.8 in total length. Height 4.3-3.5 in standard, 5.3-5.5 in total length. Eye 5.0-5.3; snout 2.2-2.5; interorbital 2.0-2.5 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fin formula:
D. 10 (2/8);  P1. 15;  P2. 9;  A. 7 (2/5) (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D iii 7-8;  A ii 5;  P i 14;  V i 8 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Maximum lengths: 14 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 8.6 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Habitats: Specimens were collected from the shallow marginal waters of the river Piyan gang in Sylhet and Tangan river near Thankurgaon of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Found in the streams and lakes of the Himalaya (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Sexing: Males with prominent tubercles on snout (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Fishery information: Highly valued as food fish but of minor interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

Gray JE. 1830. Illustrations of Indian zoology; chiefly selected from the collection of Major-General Hardwicke, F.R.S., …. 20 parts in 2 vols. Illustrations of Indian zoology; chiefly selected from the collection of Major-General Hardwicke, F.R.S., …. Pls. 1-202.

IUCN Bangladesh. 2000. Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.

Prashad B. 1919. On a new species of Discognathus from the Kangra Valley. Records of the Indian Museum (Calcutta) v. 16 (pt 1): 163-165.

Rahman AKA. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 141-142.

Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 160-161.

Talwar PK and Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 1, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, pp. 421-422.


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Sucker head, Garra gotyla gotyla (Gray, 1830)

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Md. Foyzul Hassan Fahad

Student, Department of Fisheries, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh. More...

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