Yellowtail mullet, Sicamugil cascasia (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Mugiliformes (Mullets)
Family: Mugilidae (Mullets)
Genus: Sicamugil
Species: S. cascasia

Synonyms
Liza cascasia (Hamilton, 1822)
Mugil cascasia (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Yellowtail mullet
Bangladesh: Kachki (কাচকি) and Bata (বাটা)

Distributions: Bangladesh, India (Ganga, Jamuna and Brahmaputra river systems) and Pakistan (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).

Morphology: Body compressed (anterior moderately and posterior deeply). Head flat above. Origin of dorsal fins are above 7^th and 24^th scales (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Pelvic fins with axillary scales and caudal weakly forked. 36-37  (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 36-39 scales in longitudinal series (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Opercle golden. Grayish above and minute black dots on upper third of body; silvery below (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). No lateral line (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Head 3.3-3.5 in standard, 4.2-4.4 in total length; height 3.8-4.2 in standard, 4.6-5.2 in total length; eye 3.6-4.0; snout 0.8; interorbital 1.3 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)

Fin formula:
D1. IV; D2. 1/8; P1. 14-15; P2. 1/5; A. 3/8 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D1 IV; D2 I 8; A III 8-9; P 14-15; V I 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
D1. 4; D2. 1/8; P. 15; V. 1/5; A. 3/8-9; C. 14 (Shafi and Quddus, 2001)

Maximum lengths: 5.4 cm (Rahman, 1989 and 2005); 10 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 2.5 cm (Shafi and Quddus, 2001).

Habitats: Purely freshwaters. Found in Brahmapurta river near Mymensingh, Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Rivers of Mymensingh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). Very common in the upper waters of the Ganga and the Jamuna rivers (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Inhibits rivers, canals and oxbow lakes of Bangladesh (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, p. 275.

Rahman AKA. 2005. Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 299-300.

Shafi M and Quddus MMA. 2001. Bangladesher Matsho Shampad (Fisheries of Bangladesh) (in Bengali), Kabir publication. Dhaka, Bangladesh. pp. 308-309.

Talwar PK and Jhingran AG. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 2, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-Calcutta, p. 899.

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