Deep pugnose ponyfish, Secutor reconius (Hamilton, 1822)

Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii  (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perches)
Family: Leiognathiidae (Ponyfishes, slimys, or slipmouths)
Genus: Secutor
Species: S. reconius

Synonyms
Chanda ruconius Hamilton, 1822
Equula ruconia (Hamilton, 1822)
Equula ruconius (Hamilton, 1822)
Leiognathus ruconius (Hamilton, 1822)

Common/local names
English: Deep pugnose ponyfish
Bangladesh: Chanda (চান্দা), Tak chanda (টাক চান্দা) and Thutni chanda (ঠুটি চান্দা)

Distribution: Indo-west Pacific (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

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

Morphology: Body  oval, highly deep and laterally compressed. Body Depth 1.4 to 1.7 times in standard length (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Teeth minute, 1 or 2 rows on jaws. Scales small on body.

Sub orbital region (cheek) scaled. Lateral line ending below middle of soft portion of dorsal fin and blue bars on back (in young about 12 vertical bands) (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991; Huda et al., 2003). Dorsal fin tip black with yellowish band below.

Fin formula:
D. VIII/16; P1. 16-17; P2. I/5; A. III/14 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D VIII 16; A III 14; P i 17; V I 5 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)

Maximum lengths: 8 cm TL (Rahman, 1989 and 2005; Huda et al., 2003) and 10 cm SL (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Habitats: Estuaries, Bay of Bengal and also ascends rivers (Rahman, 1989 and 2005). Estuarine and rivers of Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). Inhibits shallow coastal waters and enters estuaries and tidal rivers; fairly common in the Hooghly estuary (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).

Fishery information: Common in the catch in Chandpur and Khulna regions of Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).

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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.

Huda MS, Haque ME, Babul AS and Shil NC (ed.) (2003) Field guide to finfishes of Sundarban, Aquatic resources division, Sundarban, Boyra, Khulna, Bangladesh, p. 123.

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. 334-335.

Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2^nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 363-364.

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. 833-834.

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