Creek loach, Schistura beavani (Günther, 1868)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Balitoridae (River loaches)
Subfamily: Nemacheilinae
Genus: Schistura
Species: S. beavani

Synonyms
Nemacheilus beavani Günther, 1868
Noemacheilus beavani (Günther, 1868)

Common/local names
English: Creek loach

Distributions: Bangladesh, India and Nepal (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Data deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: The body is elongated and compressed. Head compressed and snout conical. A semi-circular mouth surrounded by thick lips and lower lip slightly interrupted in middle. Barbels three pairs and all longer than eye. Scale minute and obscure. caudal fin forked. Upper edge of dorsal oblique and pelvics with a fleshy appendage.

Body color is yellowish. A prominent dark, broad band present on the base of caudal. A row of dark spot present on dorsal fin. Two ‘<’ shaped bands on caudal fin.

Fin formula:
D. 9 (1/8); P1. 11-12 (1/10-11); P2. 7 (1/6); A. 6 (1/5) (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D iii 8; A ii 5; P i 10; V i 7 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 6.7 cm TL (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 31 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 472).

Habitats: Found in Piyan gang (Sylhet) of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fishery information: Of no interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

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. 7:i-xx + 1-512.

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. 148-149.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 167-168.

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. 472.

 

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