Systematic position
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray- finned fishes)
Order: Siluriformes (Catfishes)
Family: Bagridae (Bagrid fishes)
Genus: Mystus
Species: M. armatus
Synonyms
Aoria armatus (Day, 1865)
Hypselobagrus armatus (Day, 1865)
Macrones armatus Day, 1865
Local/common names
English: Kerala mystus
Bangladesh: Tengra (টেংরা)
India: Cuaree and Karee (Kerala) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Distributions: India (Wynaad range of hills, Western Ghats and Nagaland), probably in lower Myanmar (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and Sylhet hills of Bangladesh (Siddique, 2007). Northwest part of Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Conservation status: Data deficient in the Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongated and compressed. Head depressed. Gill openings large. Mouth terminal and upper jaw longer. Dorsal fin shorter than head. Adipose larger than anal. Caudal deeply forked and lobes are equal. Barbels four pairs and branchiostegal rays 10 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Body dark above, lighter brown below (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Leaden or brown above, lighter below. A narrow dark band along the lateral line, a round black spot at the middle of the caudal peduncle.
Fin formula:
D. I/7; P1. I/9; P2.I/5; A. 10-11 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D I 7; A iii 8; P I 9; V i 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Habits and habitats: Takes benthos and aquatic insects as food. Lives in clear water in swift-flowing hill streams with rocks and boulders. Hides below rocks and boulders (Siddique, 2007).
Maximum lengths: 8 cm TL (Rahman, 1989) and 14.5 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Habitats: Found in Piyangang river near Sungram-punji in Sylhet of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fishery information: Of minor fishery value in Kerala (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Day F (1865) On the fishes of Cochin, on the Malabar Coast of India. Part II. Anacanthini. Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1865 (pt 1): 286-318.
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. 203-204.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 225-226.
Siddique KU (ed.) (2007) Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh Freshwater fishes Vol. 23, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 300 pp.
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. 557-558.
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