Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Cyprinidae (Minnows and carps)
Sub-family: Rasborinae (Danioninae)
Genus: Barilius
Species: B. vagra
Synonyms
Barilius alburnus Günther, 1868
Barilius bleekeri Day, 1872
Barilius vagra vagra (Hamilton, 1822)
Cyprinus vagra Hamilton, 1822
Leuciscus piscatorius (McClelland, 1842)
Leuciscus vagra (Hamilton, 1822)
Opsarius bicirratus McClelland, 1842
Opsarius isocheilus McClelland, 1839
Opsarius piscatorius McClelland, 1842
Shacra vagra (Hamilton, 1822)
Common/local names
English: Vagra baril
Bangladesh: Khoksa (খোকসা)
India: Moneoree, Korang (Assam); Koksa (West Bengal); Persee (Uttar Pradesh); Chal, Lohani, Bhareli and Chiliva (Himachal Pradesh) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Distributions: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afganistan (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Endangered in Bangladesh due to habitat loss (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body shallow, slender and elongated. Mouth moderate and jaws long. Barbels two pairs, maxillary shorter than rostral and rostral shorter than eye diameter. 40-44 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 38-44 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991); 42-44 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001) scales on lateral line. Pectoral slightly shorter than head and both pectoral and pelvics with well developed axillary scales. Caudal forked with equal lobes. Color of the body is silvery with 13-18 bluish spots, usually much above lateral line. Fins are bright pinkish or yellowish.
Head 4.3-4.6 in standard, 5.4-5.7 in total length. Height 4.5-4.6 in standard, 5.5-5.6 in total length. Eye 3.2-3.6 in head; snout 0.8-1.0, interorbital 0.9-1.0 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fin formula:
D. 9(2/7); P1. 14; P2. 9; A. 14-15 (2/11-12) (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; IUCN Bangladesh, 2000)
D ii-iii 7; A ii-iii 10-12; P I 14-15; V i 8 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
D. 9 (2/7); P. 16; V. 9; A. 13-15 (2-3/11-12); C. 19 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)
Maximum lengths: 12.5 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991), 12.7 cm (Rahman, 1989) and 7.5 cm (Shafi and Quddus, 2001; Rahman, 2005).
Habitats: Streams and rivers adjoining hills (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). Rivers and canals of Dinajpur and Jamuna river (Bangladesh) (Shafi and Quddus, 2001). Inhibits streams (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Day F. 1872. Monograph of Indian Cyprinidae. Parts 4-6. Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal v. 41 (pt 2, nos. 1-4): 1-29, 171-198; 318-326, Pl. 1.
Günther A. 1868. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Physostomi, containing the families Heteropygii, Cyprinidae, Gonorhynchidae, Hyodontidae, Osteoglossidae, Clupeidae,… [thru]… Halosauridae, in the collection of the British Museum. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. v. 7: i-xx + 1-512.
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.
IUCN Bangladesh. 2000. Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.
McClelland J. 1839. Indian Cyprinidae. Asiatic Researches v. 19 (pt 2): 217-471, Pls. 37-61.
McClelland J. 1842. On the fresh-water fishes collected by William Griffith, Esq., F. L. S. Madras Medical Service, during his travels under the orders of the Supreme Government of India, from 1835 to 1842. Calcutta Journal of Natural History v. 2 (no. 8): 560-589, Pls. 15, 18, 20, 21.
Rahman AKA. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 99.
Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 116.
Shafi M and Quddus MMA. 2001. Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 134-135.
Talwar PK and Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 1, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, p. 353.
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