Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Psilorhynchidae (Mountain carps)
Genus: Psilorhynchus
Species: P. gracilis
Common/local names
English: Rainbow minnow and Rainboth minnow
Bangladesh: Balitora (বালিটোরা)
Distributions: Bangladesh (Gangetic lowland streams) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Data deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongate, arched dorsal and flattened below with depressed head. Mouth small and ventral and eyes large. Dorsal fin inserted closer to snout-tip than that to caudal base. Scales large. Lateral line complete with 33-36 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) scales.
Body with 7-10 dark lateral blotches (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Body color variable. Two distinct spots anterior to dorsal origin. Ab apical spot on dorsal fin. In adults caudal with two black blotches on each lobe (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). No blotches on paired fins.
Fin formula:
D. 2/8-9; P1. 4-5/9-12; P2. 2/7; A. 3/5 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D iii 8-9; A iii 5; P iv-v 9-12; V ii 7 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum length: 5.5 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Habitats: Shallow running waters with sandy bottom mainly (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Recorded from Jabuneswari river (Rangpur), Sangu river (Bandarban), Jagat river (Rangpur), Mohananda river (Tetulia, Panchagar) of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Found in the Gangetic lowlands; lower reaches of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Fishery info: Of no interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
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. 75-76.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 91-92.
Rainboth WJ (1983) Psilorhynchus gracilis, a new cyprinoid fish from the Gangetic lowlands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 4) 43(6): 67-76.
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. 440.
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