Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Cyprinidae (Carps and minnows)
Genus: Puntius
Species: P. conchonius
Synonyms
Barbus conchonius (Hamilton, 1822)
Cyprinus conchonius Hamilton, 1822
Puntius conchonius khagariansis Datta Munshi & Srivastava, 1988
Systomus conchonius (Hamilton, 1822)
Systomus pyropterus McClelland, 1839
Common/local names
English: Rosy barb and Red barb
Bangladesh: Kanchan punti (কাঞ্চন পুঁটি), Punti (পুঁটি) and Taka punti (টাকা পুঁটি)
India: Kunchon-pungti, Kharauli-pothi and Pothi (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Distribution: Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India (Ganga, Brahmaputra and Mahandi and Cauvery river systems), Nepal and Pakistan (Indus river drainage) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Not Threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body deep and compressed laterally. Moderate mouth with no barbels and upper jaw slightly longer. Dorsal originates nearer to snout tip and its last unbranched ray osseous, moderately strong and serrated. Pectoral as long as head excluding snout. Lateral line incomplete, scales medium.
Body silvery, back shining olive-green in color and all scales with dark bases. Fins are reddish with rows of black marks. A band of black marks along middle of dorsal rays.
Head 3.3-3.9 in standard, 4.6-4.8 in total length. Height 2.0-2.4 in standard, 2.6-3.0 in total length. Eye 3.0-3.8; snout 1.0; interorbital 1.3-1.6 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fin formula
D. 11 (3/8); P1. 13-15; P2. 9 (1/8); A. 7-8 (2-3/5) (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D iii 7-8; A ii-iii 5; P i 18; V i 8 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
D. 11(3/8); P. 11; V. 9; A. 9(2/7); C. 19 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)
Maximum length: 14 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991), 9.9 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 12.5 cm (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).
Habitats: All Freshwater bodies of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989). Found in Chalan Beel (Galib et al., 2009). Greatly inhibits lakes and streams (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Abundantly found in haors, baors, beels and rivers during monsoon; also in inundated paddy and jute fields (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).
Breeding: Mature at 6 cm and it is most impressively colored during the mating period when the normally silvery male takes on a rich claret flush and the slightly larger female becomes more luminous (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Breeds between summer and rainy season (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).
Importance: Used as food fish in Bangladesh. Also important as ornamental fish in aquarium and can generally be kept together with other small fishes (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Datta Munshi JS and Srivastava MP. 1988. Natural history of fishes and systematics of freshwater fishes of India. Narendra Publ. House, Delhi. Natural history of fishes and systematics of freshwater fishes of India.: i-xviii, 1-403.
Galib SM, Samad MA, Mohsin ABM, Flowra FA and Alam MT. 2009 Present Status of Fishes in the Chalan Beel- the Largest Beel (Wetland) of Bangladesh, Int. J. Ani. Fish. Sci. 2(3):214-218.
Hamilton F. 1822 An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Edinburgh & London. An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches.: i-vii + 1-405, Pls. 1-39.
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, p. 131.
Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 149-150.
Shafi M and Quddus MMA. 2001. Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 130-131.
Talwar PK and Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. I, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, p. 266.
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