Systematic position:
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Cobitidae (loaches)
Genus: Botia
Species: B. dario
Synonyms: Cobitis dario (Hamilton, 1822), Botia geto (Hamilton, 1822), Canthophrys flavicauda (Swainson, 1839), Canthophrys zebra (Swainson, 1839), Diacanthus flavicauda (Swainson, 1839), Diacanthus zebra (Swainson, 1839).
Common/Local names: Bou, Rani, Beti (Bangladesh); Necktie loach (English); bengal loach (Fishbase).
Distribution: Bangladesh, India (Ganga and Brahmaputra drainage) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Endangered in Bangladesh (IUCN, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongated and laterally compressed. Dorsal profile more convex than that of ventral, head flattened at sides. Mouth small and ventral. 4 pairs of barbels including 2 rostral, 1 maxillary and 1 mandibular pair present. Body color yellow or yellowish with several (generally 7) black colored transverse bands.
Maximum length reported 8 cm (Bhuiyan, 1964), 7.3 cm (Hussain, 1999), and 15.1 cm (Rahman, 1989). Highest length measured 9.5 cm in 2007 in the Chalan Beel of Bangladesh.
Head 24.5% SL and 20.3% TL. Height 26.4% SL and 21.9% TL. Eye 23.1% HL. Scales minute. Lateral line present and complete. Caudal fin forked.
Fin formula: D. 11-13 (2-3/9-10); P1. 14; P2. 8; A. 7-8 (2/5-6) (Rahman, 1989)
Habitat: Water bodies of Bangladesh, abundant in streams of Mymensingh, Sylhet, Dinajpur, Rangpur and Chittagong hill tracts (Rahman, 1989). Recorded in Chalan Beel of Bangladesh (Galib et al., 2009).
Economics importance: Used as food fish in Bangladesh. Occasionally found in aquarium shops. This fish is liked by the people for its good flavor (Bhuiyan, 1964).
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References
Bhuiyan AL. 1964. Fishes of Dacca, Asiat. Soc. Pakistan, Pub. 1, No. 13, Dacca, pp. 50-51.
Galib SM, Samad MA, Mohsin ABM, Flowra FA and Alam MT. 2009. Present Status of Fishes in the Chalan Beel- the Largest Beel (Wetland) of Bangladesh, Int. J. Ani. Fish. Sci. 2(3): 214-218.
Hamilton F (Buchanan). 1822. An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches, Edinburgh & London, Fishes Ganges, pp. 1-405.
Hussain MM. 1999. Fishes and Fisheries of the River Atrai in Rajshahi with Reference to its Limnology, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, pp. 5-200.
IUCN Bangladesh. 2000. Red Book of Threatened Fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The World Conservation Union, 116 p.
Rahman AKA. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 154.
Swainson W. 1839. The natural history and classification of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals. Spottiswoode & Co., London. Nat. Hist. & Class. 448 p.
Talwar PK and Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. I, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, pp. 537-538.
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