River Loach, Acanthocobitis zonalternans (Blyth, 1860)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Family: Balitoridae (River loaches)
Subfamily: Nemacheilinae
Genus: Acanthocobitis
Species: A. zonalternans

Synonyms
Cobitis zonalternans Blyth, 1860
Nemacheilus phuketensis Klausewitz, 1957
Nemacheilus zonalternans (Blyth, 1860)
Noemacheilus phuketensis Klausewitz, 1957
Noemacheilus zonalternans (Blyth, 1860)

Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); India and Myanmar (Talwar and jhingran, 1991).

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

Morphology: The body is elongated, cylindrical and somewhat compressed with depressed head. A semi-circular small mouth with fleshy lips and lower lip interrupted in middle and with a broad papillose disc on both side, few rows on upper lip. Barbel well developed and three pairs. Scales imbricate.

Lateral line incomplete and ending below dorsal base. A dark lateral streak caused by 10-12 short transverse bars, caudal weakly notched with 5 rows of spots (Rahman 1989 and 2005). Caudal fin emarginated. Dorsal with 3-4  rows of ‘>’ shaped spots (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fin formula:
D. 11 (2/9); P1. 10; P2. 6; A. 7 (2/5) (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D iii 10; A iii 5-6; P i 11; V i 7 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 3.8 cm TL (Rahman, 1989 and 2005) and 0.78 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Habitats: Piyan gang (Sylhet) of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

Fishery information: Of no interest to fisheries (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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REFERENCES

Blyth E (1860) Report on some fishes received chiefly from the Sitang River and its tributary streams, Tenasserim Provinces. Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 29(2):138-174.

IUCN Bangladesh (2000) Red book of threatened fishes of Bangladesh, IUCN- The world conservation union. xii+116 pp.

Klausewitz W(1957) Neue Süsswasserfische aus Thailand. Senckenbergiana Biologica 38(3/4):193-204, Pls. 17, 17a, 18.

Rahman AKA (1989) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 1st edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 146.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, p. 165.

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. 508.

 

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