Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Elopiformes (Tenpounders)
Family: Megalopidae (Tarpons)
Genus: Megalops
Species: M. cyprinoides
Synonyms
Brisbania staigeri Castelnau, 1878
Clupea cyprinoides Broussonet, 1782
Clupea thrissoides Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Cyprinodon cundinga Hamilton, 1822
Elops cundinga (Hamilton, 1822)
Elops cyprinoides (Broussonet, 1782)
Megalops cundinga (Hamilton, 1822)
Megalops curtifilis Richardson, 1846
Megalops filamentosus Lacepède, 1803
Megalops indicus Valenciennes, 1847
Megalops macrophthalmus Bleeker, 1851
Megalops macropterus Bleeker, 1866
Megalops oligolepis Bleeker, 1866
Megalops setipinnis Richardson, 1843
Common names: Indo-Pacific tarpon and Oxeye tarpon
Distributions: Indo-west Pacific (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Data Deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongated, moderately deep and compressed with large eyes and superior mouth. Dorsal fin at about middle of the body and last finray is filamentous. Scales are large and lateral line complete. 35-39 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 37-42 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) scales on lateral line.
Body color blue or green on back and silvery flanks. Edges of dorsal and anal fins are blackish.
Fin formula:
D. 2-3/16; P1. 14-16; P2. 11-12; A. 2/23-25 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D 17-21; A 24-31; P 15-16; V 10-11 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum lengths: 150 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 40 cm (450 g) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Habitats: Coastal waterbodies, enters lagoons, estuaries and freshwaters (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Available in estuaries and the Bay of Bengal; also in Meghna river (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Common in Hooghly estuary and Chilka lake of Orissa; fairly common in freshwater lakes and up rivers many miles from the sea (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Spawning: Attains 25 cm length at maturity (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Bleeker P (1851) Over eenige nieuwe soorten van Megalops, Dussumieria, Notopterus en Astronesthes. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 1: 417-424.
Bleeker P (1866) Sur la pluralité des espèces Indo-archipélagiques du genre Megalops Lac. Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor de Dierkunde 3: 278-292.
Bloch ME and Schneider JG (1801) M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit Jo. Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Auctoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum. M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae.: i-lx + 1-584, Pls. 1-110.
Broussonet PMA (1782) Ichthyologia, sistens piscium descriptiones et icones. Decas I. London. Ichthyologia, sistens piscium descriptiones et icones. Decas I.: 49 unnum. pages, incl. i-iv., Unnum. Pls. 1-11.
Castelnau FL (1878) Australian fishes. New or little known species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2(3): 225-248, Pls. 2-3.
Cuvier G and Valenciennes A (1847) Histoire naturelle des poissons. Tome dix-neuvième. Suite du livre dix-neuvième. Brochets ou Lucioïdes. Livre vingtième. De quelques familles de Malacoptérygiens, intermédiaires entre les Brochets et les Clupes. Histoire naturelle des poissons. 19: i-xix + 1-544 + 6 pp., Pls. 554-590.
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.
Lacepède BGE (1803) Histoire naturelle des poissons. Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 5: i-lxviii + 1-803 + index, Pls. 1-21.
Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 234-236.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 259-260.
Richardson J (1846) Report on the ichthyology of the seas of China and Japan. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 15th meeting [1845]: 187-320.
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. 69-70.
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