Pan sole, Brachirus pan (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes)
Family: Soliedae (Soles)
Genus: Brachirus
Species: B. pan

Synonyms
Euryglossa pan (Hamilton, 1822)
Pleuronectes pan Hamilton, 1822
Synaptura pan (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Pan sole
Bangladesh: Kathal pata (কাঠাল পাতা), Serbati (সরবতি) and Pan pata (পান পাতা)

Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005), East coast of India, Myanmar and Malay archipelago (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Body flat and oblong. Mouth small and scales are ctenoid on both side pf the body. Scales on nape and upper part of head enlarged. 80-84 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) scales on lateral line. Well developed pectoral fins.

Dorsal portion brownish with irregular darker spots and blotches. Few dark vertical spots crossing lateral line and margin of right pectoral fin dusky (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Fin formula:
D. 50-60; P1. 7; P2. 6; A. 43-46; C. 14 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D 57-61; A 43-46; P 7; V 6; C 16-17 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 8.3 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 9 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991; Huda et al., 2003).

Habitats: Inhibit estuaries and tidal rivers (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Bay of Bengal; enters estuaries and freshwater rivers; inhibits shallow sandy and muddy bottom in coastal areas (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Found in Sundarbans (Huda et al., 2003), Meghna and Dakatia rivers (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fishery information: Harvested in small quantities in the Hooghly estuary of India (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

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, Haque ME, Babul AS and Shil NC (ed.) (2003) Field guide to finfishes of Sundarban, Aquatic resources division, Sundarban, Boyra, Khulna, Bangladesh, p. 182.

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. 27-28.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 42-43.

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. 1046-1047.

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