Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perches)
Family: Lobotidae (tripletails)
Genus: Datnioides
Species: D. polota

Synonyms
Chaetodon quadrifasciatus Sevastianoff, 1809
Coius binotatus Gray, 1834
Coius polota Hamilton, 1822
Coius quadrifasciatus Sevastianoff, 1809
Datnioides quadrifasciatus (Sevastianoff, 1809)
Lobotes hexazona Bleeker, 1851

Common/local names
English: Four-barred tigerfish
Bangladesh: Reka (রেকা)

Distributions: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Sumatra, Borneo and New Guinea (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Data deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Strongly compressed and elevated body with large eyes and mouth. Anal spines long and second longest. Scales are small. 48 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 70 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) scales on lateral line.

Body color dusky olive-brown with paler beneath with 8-10 dark brown, partially incomplete, crossbands on body (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). A blackish blotch on operculum and 3 dark bands often radiate from eyes (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Caudal rounded. Second anal fin spine is longer than third.

Fin formula:
D. XII/13-14; P1. 19; P2. I/5; A. III/8-9 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D XII 13-14; A III 8-9; P i 15; V I 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 30 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 30 TL (Huda et al., 2003).

Habitats: Brackish waters; mouths of large rivers and coastal lagoons, also in freshwater lakes and rivers above tidal influence (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Estuaries of Ganga and rivers of Myanmar (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Fishery information: Not esteemed as foodfish and young specimens are suitable for domestic aquarium (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.

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.

Huda MS and Haque ME. 2003. Field Guide to Finfishes of Sundarban, Aquatic Resource Division, Sundarban, Sundarban Biodiversity COnservation Project, Bangladesh Forest Department, Khulna, Bangladesh, p. 127.

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. 325-326.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 351-352.

Sevastianoff A (1809) Déscription de quelques nouvelles espèces d’animaux, du musée académique. Mémoires de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg (5. Série) v. 1 (1803-1806): 443-449, Pls. 17-18.

Talwar PK and Jhingran AG (1991) Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 2, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, pp. 837-838.

 


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Four-barred tigerfish, Datnioides polota (Hamilton, 1822)

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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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