Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Superfamily: Cobitoidea
Family: Cobitidae (Loaches)
Subfamily: Cobitinae
Genus: Lepidocephalichthys
Species: L. annandalei
Synonym: Lepidocephalus annandalei (Chaudhuri, 1912)
Common/local names
English: Annaldale loach
Bangladesh: Gutum (গুতুম) and Puiya (পুইয়া)
Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and India (Teesta river systems of North Bengal and Garo Hills of Meghalaya) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body elongate, cylindrical, slightly compressed. Posterior part of body is more compressed than anterior portion. Mouth inferior and snout deeply compressed. Barbels 3 pairs. Scale minute. Anterior nostril surrounded by a flap.
Body color light brownish, 9-10 irregular brown blotches along lateral line. Head and snout stripped with dark dots. 4 dark band on dorsal fin. Paired fins are also spotted. A deep black spot at caudal base.
Fin formula:
D. 1/7; P1. 8; P2. 6; A. 2/5 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D i-ii 6-7; A ii 5; P i 6-7; V i 6 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum length: 5 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Habitats: Inhibits clear swift streams with sandy bottom (Rahman, 2005). Recorded from Tangan river (Thakurgaon) and Muhuri river (Feni) of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fishery info: Of no interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
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REFERENCES
Chaudhuri BL (1912) XXXV. Descriptions of some new species of freshwater fishes from north India. Records of the Indian Museum (Calcutta) 7(5): 437-444.
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, p. 158.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 177-178.
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. 522-523.
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