Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Siluriformes (Catfishes)
Superfamily: Sisoroidea
Family: Erethistidae (Erethistid catfishes)
Genus: Conta
Species: C. conta
Synonyms
Conta elongata (Day, 1872)
Erethistes elongata (Day, 1872)
Hara conta (Hamilton, 1822)
Hara elongata Day, 1872
Pimelodus conta Hamilton, 1822
Common/local names
English: Conta catfish
India: Bot-tengara and Kutkant (West Bengal) (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991).
Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); India (base of Himalaya in the North Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Terai of Uttar Pradesh) (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Data Deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000)
Morphology: Body elongate and sub-cylindrical with a small oval-shaped head. Mouth small with thick and fleshy lips. Mouth 4.5-5.5 times in standard length (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991). Four pairs of barbels. Caudal forked. Upper lobe of caudal often with a long filamentous prolongation (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991). Pectoral horizontally placed.
Body color deep brownish with gray back and dirty whitish below. Barbels with dark and white annulations (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991). Fins are yellowish with light bands. Outer rays of caudal fin with whitish border.
Fin formula:
D. 1/5; P1. 1/6; P2. 6 (1/5); A. 10-11 (3/7-8); C. 17 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D I 5-6; A ii-iii 7; P I 6; V i 5 (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum lengths: 7.7 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 7.8 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Habitats: Inhabits rocky streams at the bases of hills (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991). Found in Rangapani khal of Sylhet, Piyangang river, Mahananda river and other rivers of north Bengal (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fishery info: Of no interest to fisheries (Tawlar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Day F (1872) On the freshwater siluroids of India and Burmah. Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1871 (pt 3): 703-721.
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.
Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 208-209.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 230-231.
Talwar PK and Jhingran AG (1991) Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 1, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, pp. 624-625.
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