Exotic fishes are those species of fishes which are not native and introduced from foreign or other countries to the local areas. Different species of fishes are introduced in Bangladesh to serve various purposes. Some of these purposes are (Rahman, 2005)-

  • to utilize a vacant niche by appropriate species,
  • to increase the overall production of food fishes,
  • to improve standard of sport fishing,
  • to control insects pests by biological means,
  • to decorate aquarium by ornamental fishes.

In Bangladesh a total of 92 varieties of exotic fishes under 53 species, 17 families and 5 orders were recorded and described by Galib and Mohsin (2011) which are shown here in Table 01. Exotic fishes available in Bangladesh can be grouped into two major categories according to their uses-

  1. Cultured fish species (food fish – F)
  2. Ornamental fish species (O)

Table 01: Exotic fishes of Bangladesh (Galib and Mohsin, 2011)

Sl. Scientific name Common/variety name Use
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Apteronotidae
01 Apteronotus albifrons Black ghost knifefish O
Family: Cyprinidae
02 Aristichthys nobilis Bighead carp F
03 Balantiocheilos melanopterus Silver shark O
04 Barbonymus gonionotus Thai sarpunti F, O
05 Barbus tetrazona Tiger barb O
06 Carassius auratus Black Moor O
07 Carassius auratus Bubble Eye O
08 Carassius auratus Calico O
09 Carassius auratus Celestine Eye O
10 Carassius auratus Comet O
11 Carassius auratus Common Goldfish O
12 Carassius auratus Fantail O
13 Carassius auratus Lionhead O
14 Carassius auratus Oranda O
15 Carassius auratus Redcap O
16 Carassius auratus Ryukin O
17 Carassius auratus Shubunkin O
18 Crossocheilus siamensis Siamese Algae Eater O
19 Ctenopharyngodon idella Grass carp F
20 Cyprinus carpio Assorted Koi Carp O
21 Cyprinus carpio Tiger Koi Carp O
22 Cyprinus carpio var. communis Scale carp F
23 Cyprinus carpio var. coriaceus Leather Carp F
24 Cyprinus carpio var. specularis Mirror carp F
25 Epalzeorhynchos frenatus Albino shark O
26 Epalzeorhynchos frenatus Rainbow shark O
27 Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Silver carp F
28 Mylopharyngodon piceus Black carp F
29 Myxocyprinus asiaticus High fin shark O
30 Puntius denisonii Roseline shark O
Family: Cobitidae
31 Acantopsis choirorhynchos Horseface Loach O
32 Chromobotia macracanthus Clown Loach O
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Callichthyidae
33 Corydoras aeneus Cory cat O
Family: Clariidae
34 Clarias batrachus Albino Catfish O
35 Clarias gariepinus African Catfish F
Family: Loricariidae
36 Hypostomus plecostomus Sucker mouthfish O
Family: Pangasidae
37 Pangasius hypophthalmus Thai Pangus F
38 Pangasius hypophthalmus Tiger Shark O
39 Pangasius hypophthalmus White Tiger Shark O
Family: Pimelodidae
40 Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum Tiger Shovelnose O
Family: Schilbeidae
41 Kryptopterus bicirrhis Glass Catfish O
Order: Characiformes
Family: Characidae
42 Aphyocharax anisitsi Bloodfin tetra O
43 Gymnocorymbus ternetzi Black Skirt Tetra O
44 Hemigrammus bleheri Rummy Nose Tetra O
45 Hyphessobrycon megalopterus Phantom tetra O
46 Paracheirodon innesi Neon Tetra O
47 Metynnis hypsauchen Silver Dollar O
48 Piaractus brachypomus Pirapitinga F, O
49 Pygocentrus nattereri Red Piranha F, O
Order: Osteoglossiformes
Family: Osteoglossidae
50 Osteoglossum bicirrhosum Silver Arowana O
Order: Perciformes
Family: Ambassidae
51 Parambassis ranga Glass Fish O
Family: Anabantidae
52 Anabas testudineus Thai Koi F
Family: Belontiidae
53 Betta splendens Blue Fighter O
54 Betta splendens Blue-brown Fighter O
55 Betta splendens Pale Fighter O
56 Betta splendens Pink Fighter O
Family: Cichlidae
57 Aequidens pulcher Blue Acara O
58 Archocentrus nigrofasciatus Convict Cichlid O
59 Astronotus ocellatus Golden Oscar O
60 Astronotus ocellatus Red Oscar O
61 Astronotus ocellatus White Oscar O
62 Boulenger moori Blue Dolphin Cichlid O
63 Cichlasoma citrinellum x C. synspilum Blood/Red Parrot O
64 Cichlasoma citrinellum x C. synspilum White Parrot O
65 Melanochromis auratus Golden Mbuna O
66 Oreochromis mossambicus Tilapia F
67 Oreochromis niloticus Nilotica F
68 Oreochromis niloticus GIFT F
69 Pterophyllum scalare Black Angel O
70 Pterophyllum scalare Marble Angel O
71 Pterophyllum scalare Silver Angel O
72 Pterophyllum scalare White Angel O
73 Symphysodon discus Brown  Discus O
74 Symphysodon discus Ghost Discus O
75 Symphysodon discus Marble Discus O
76 Symphysodon discus Red Turquiose Discus O
77 Thorichthys meeki Firemouth Cichlid O
78 Brachygobius xanthozonus Bumblebee Goby O
79 Helostoma temmincki Kissing Gourami O
80 Trichogaster leeri Pearl Gourami O
81 Trichogaster trichopterus Blue Gourami O
82 Trichogaster trichopterus Golden Gourami O
83 Poecilia reticulata Guppy O
84 Poecilia reticulata Sail fin Guppy O
85 Poecilia sphenops Balloon Molly (Golden) O
86 Poecilia sphenops Balloon Molly (White) O
87 Poecilia sphenops Black Molly O
88 Poecilia sphenops Mixed Color Molly O
89 Poecilia sphenops White Molly O
90 Xiphophorus helleri Green Sword Tail O
91 Xiphophorus helleri Sword Tail O
92 Xiphophorus maculatus Platy O

________________________________________________________

REFERENCES

Galib SM and Mohsin ABM. 2010. Exotic Ornamental Fishes of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Journal of Progressive Science and Technology, 8(2): 255-258.

Galib SM and Mohsin ABM. 2011. Cultured and Ornamental Exotic Fishes of Bangladesh Past and Present, LAP-Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, pp. 65-66.

Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, 263 pp.

 


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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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