Goldspot mullet, Liza parsia (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Mugiliformes (Mullets)
Family: Mugilidae (Mullets)
Genus: Liza
Species: L. parsia

Synonyms
Mugil olivaceus Day, 1876
Mugil parsia Hamilton, 1822
Myxus parsia (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Goldspot mullet
Bangladesh: Bata (বাটা) and Parse (পার্সে)
India; Parsia and Tarui (West Bengal); Dangla, Menjia, Khajia and Khainga (Orissa); Bonthalu (Andhra Pradesh); Chirayakandai and Madavai (Tamil Nadu) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Distributions: Bangladesh; India (including Andaman island), Pakistan and Sri Lanka (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). Common in the estuaries of Bangladesh (Rahman, 2005).

Morphology: Body slender with dorsally flattened head. Pectoral fins 76-79% of head length (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Base of second dorsal, anal and caudal fins yellowish and other fins off-white with dusky margins (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). A golden spot on spineless operculum (Huda and Haque, 2003).

33-34 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 31-36 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) scales on lateral series. Surface and upper third of the body grayish and silvery white below. Opercle golden. Origin of dorsal fin above 7^th scale (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fin formula:
D1. IV; D2. 1/8; P1. 15; P2. 1/5; A. 3/9 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D1 IV; D2 I 8; A III 9; P 14; V I 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: Grow to 15-19 cm in a year (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). 6.3 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 40 cm in natural water and 25 cm in ponds (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 16 cm (Huda and Haque, 2003).

Habitats: Bay of Bengal, estuaries and tidal rivers (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Inhibits shallow coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons and entering tidal rivers (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Found in Sundarbans (Huda and Haque, 2003).

Spawning: Spawning takes place in sea (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

Day F. 1876. The fishes of India; being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and fresh waters of India, Burma, and Ceylon. The fishes of India; being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and fresh waters of India, Burma, and Ceylon. Part 2: 169-368, Pls. 41-78.

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. 90.

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. 277-278.

Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 302-303.

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. 893-894.

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