Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Superfamily: Cobitoidea
Family: Cobitidae (Loaches)
Subfamily: Cobitinae
Genus: Lepidocephalichthys
Species: L. irrorata
Synonym: Lepidocephalus irrorata (Hora, 1921)
Common/local names
English: Loktak loach
Bangladesh: Puiya (পুইয়া)
Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and India (Manipur and Meghalaya) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Data Deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongate with arched dorsal profile and almost straight ventral profile. Scaled upper surface of the head. Mouth inferior and eyes are very small. Sub-orbital spine elongated. Four pairs of barbels. Dorsal fin much nearer to the caudal base. Caudal slightly forked and almost truncate.
Body color pale-olive with minute dark spots on sides. Fins are whitish and profusely spotted. Dark streak from eye to snout.
Fin formula:
D. 2/7; P1. 1/6; P2. 1/6; A. 2/5 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D ii 6-7; A ii-iii 5; P i 6-7; V i 6 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum lengths: 3 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 34 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Habitats: Recorded from Muhuri river of Feni and streams of Sylhet (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fishery info: Of no interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Hora SL (1921) Fish and fisheries of Manipur with some observations on those of the Naga Hills. Records of the Indian Museum (Calcutta) 22(3/19): 165-214.
IUCN Bangladesh (2000) Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.
Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 158-159.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 178-179.
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. 526-527.
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