Crocodile-tooth pipefish, Microphis cuncalus (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Gasterosteiformes (Sticklebacks)
Family: Syngnathidae (Pipefishes and seahorses)
Subfamily: Syngnathinae (Pipefishes)
Genus: Microphis
Species: M. cuncalus

Synonyms
Doryichthys chokderi Rahman, 1976
Doryichthys cuncalus (Hamilton, 1822)
Paramicrophis schmidti Klausewitz, 1955
Syngnathus cuncalus Hamilton, 1822

Common/local names
English: Crocodile-tooth pipefish
Bangladesh: Kumirer khil (কুমিরের খিল) and Kuna kumirer khil (কুনা কুমিরের খিল)
India: Kunnur-dant (Orissa) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Distributions: Bangladesh, India (West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala) and Sri Lanka (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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

Morphology: Body elongate and slender. 16-17 rings on trunk and 26-27 on tail (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Dorsal originates on 15^th or 16^th ring of trunk (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Pectotal and caudal fins are small and rounded. No pelvic fins but with minute anal fin.

Body color greenish above with dirty white below and several dusky lines on back which form a network by intersecting each other. Caudal red or reddish.

Fin formula:
D. 50-51; P1. 16-18; A. 2-3; C. 8-9 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
Rings (16-18)+(24-27); D 47-56; P 16-19 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
D. 50-51; P. 16-18; A. 2-3; C. 8-9 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)

Maximum lengths: 12.8 cm TL (Rahman, 1989 and 2005), 17.5 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991), 12.4 TL cm (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Habitats: Estuaries and rivers of Bangladesh (Shafi and Quddus, 2001). Freshwaters, estuarine or low salinity habitats (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Common in river Meghna (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) of Bangladesh and Hooghly estuary of India (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Fishery info: Of no interest to fisheries (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.

IUCN Bangladesh (2000) Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.

Klausewitz W (1955) Paramicrophis schmidti, eine neue Seenadel aus Indien (Pisces, Syngnathidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 36(5/6):325-327.

Rahman AKA (1976) The freshwater pipe fishes of Bangladesh, with the description of a new species. Bangladesh Journal of Zoology 4(2):43-50.

Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 37-38.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 52-53.

Shafi M and Quddus MMA (2001) Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 249-250.

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. 770-771.

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