Engraved catfish, Nemapteryx nenga (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Siluriformes (Catfishes)
Superfamily: Bagroidea
Family: Ariidae (Tachysuridae) (Sea catfishes)
Genus: Nemapteryx
Species: N. nenga

Synonyms
Arius caelatus (Valenciennes, 1840)
Arius nenga (Hamilton, 1822)
Pimelodus nenga Hamilton, 1822
Tachysurus nenga (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Engraved catfish
Bangladesh: Kata (কাটা)

Distributions: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Indo-Australian Archiopelago, but not the Philippines or Australia (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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

Morphology: Body elongate with broad and depressed head. Dorsal profile almost straight. Snout rounded, mouth interior and upper jaw prominent. Barbels 3 pairs; single pair of large maxillary barbels reaching nearly pelvic base and 2 pairs of mandibular barbels. Dorsal fin with a spine, denticulated on both edges. Pectoral spine shorter than dorsal spine, strong and serrated on both sides. Caudal forked and upper lobe longer.

Body color golden with a blackish shade above. Fins are yellowish.

Fin formula:
D. I/7; P1. I/9-10; P2. 6; A. 18-19 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D I 7; A v-vi 15-17; P I 9; V i 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 23.5 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 30 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Habitats: Primarily marine but enters brackishwaters and tidal rivers (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Estuaries, tidal rivers and the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Not common in Indian inland waters (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

Cuvier G and Valenciennes A (1840) Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome quinzième. Suite du livre dix-septième. Siluroïdes. Histoire naturelle des poissons. 15: i-xxxi + 1-540, Pls. 421-455.

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. 231-232.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 254-255.

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. 701-702.

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