Rubicusdus eelgoby, Odontamblyopus rubicundus (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perches)
Family: Gobiidae (Gobies)
Subfamily: Amblyopinae
Genus: Odontamblyopus
Species: O. rubicundus

Synonyms
Amblyopus mayenna Valenciennes, 1837
Amblyopus taenia Günther, 1861
Gobioides rubicundus Hamilton, 1822
Taenioides rubicundus (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Rubicusdus eelgoby
Bangladesh: Lal chewa (লাল চেওয়া); Sada chew (সাদাচেউ)(Shafi and Quddus, 2001)

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

Morphology: Body elongated with sub-cylindrical anterior and compressed posterior parts. Four canine teeth on each side of upper jaw and four/five canine teeth on each side of lower jaw (Huda et al., 2003). Barbels on chin and almost vertical mouth cleft. Scales are minute. Dorsal and anal fins are almost confluent with caudal fin.

Caudal black but other fins are reddish. Pelvic fins united (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fin formula:
D. VI/34-39; P1. 28-30; A. 33-37 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D. 6/35-39; P. 30; V. 1/5; A. 33-36; C. 15 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)

Maximum lengths: 29 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 25 cm (Huda et al., 2003).

Habitats: Estuaries and rivers of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). Found in Dakatia river (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and the Sundarbans (Huda et al., 2003).

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REFERENCES

Günther A (1861) Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. 3. Gobiidae, Discoboli, Pediculati, Blenniidae, Labyrinthici, Mugilidae, Notacanthi. London. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. v. 3: i-xxv + 1-586 + i-x.

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. 161.

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. 313.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 339.

Shafi M and Quddus MMA (2001) Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 295-296.

 

{{{{___SPECIAL THANKS___}}}

to Farzana Yeasmin, student of MS in Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Department of Fisheries, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh for providing me the photograph, used in this article.

 

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