Asian cory, Chandramara chandramara (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Siluriformes (Catfishes)
Superfamily: Bagroidea
Family: Bagridae (Bagrid catfishes)
Genus: Chandramara
Species: Chandramara chandramara

Synonyms
Pimelodus chandramara Hamilton, 1822
Rama chandramara (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Asian cory
Bangladesh: Futki guri (ফুটকী গুড়ি) and Gura tengra (গুড়া টেংরা)
India: Kucho tengara (West Bengal) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Distributions: Bangladesh and India (North Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Data Deficient in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Body moderate with sub-terminal mouth, of which upper jaw slightly longer than lower jaw. Eight pores on ventral surface of head and extend obliquely from mandibular barbels to gill openings. Barbels four pairs. Air bladder visible from outside and adipose fin base comparatively shorter than anal fin base.

Dorsal spine unserrated and  comparatively weak than that of pectoral spine. Pectoral spine serrated on inner margin. Caudal deeply forked. Body color yellowish and dull white on belly. Numerous black dots all over the body. A black spot on shoulder and nape. Some individual may be brown in color (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Fin formula:
D. I/6-7; P1. 1/5; P2. 6; A. 14-16 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D I 7; A iii-iv 12-14; P I 5-6; V i 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
D1. I/6; D2. 0; P. I/8-9; V. 6 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)

Maximum lengths: 5.7 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005), 5 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 7 cm (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Habitats: Inhibits mountain streams (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Found in beels, ditches, streams, canals and other freshwater bodies in Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Also found in haors, baors (oxbow lakes) and ponds (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Fishery info: Unusual catfish, rather rare in the catches (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Caught by cast net, kochal net, dharma net and hooks (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

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REFERENCES

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.

Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 191-192.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 212-213.

Shafi M and Quddus MMA (2001) Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 196-197.

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. 574-575.

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