Systematic position
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Order: Pleuronectiformes (Flatfishes)
Family: Soliedae (Soles)
Genus: Brachirus
Species: B. orientalis
Synonyms
Euryglossa orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Pleuronectes orientalis Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Synaptura filamentosa Sauvage, 1878
Synaptura orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Common/local names
English: Oriental sole
Bangladesh: Botpata (বটপাতা), Danchouka serboti (ডানচৌখ্যা সরবতি) and Kathal pata (কাঠাল পাতা)
Distributions: Bangladesh (Rahman, 1989 and 2005), Red Sea, Persian Gulf, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, through the East Indies, to China and Australia (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
Conservation status: Not threatened in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Morphology: Body oblong and flat. Mouth small, upper lip feebly fringed and pectoral fins well developed. Eye side with three longitudinal rows of small patches of scales. Scales ctenoid on both sides of the body. Dorsal and anal fins are confluent with caudal fin. 70-85 scales on lateral line (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Body color tinged yellow on blind side. Vertical fins darker and outer half of pectoral fins black (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). Pectoral on ocular side with black tip (Rahman, 1989 and 2005).
Fin formula:
D. 61-65; P1. 9; P2. 5; A. 47-50 (Rahman, 1989 and 2005)
D 62-72; A 47-57; P 7; V 5; C 18-20 (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991)
Maximum lengths: 18 cm (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991) and 30 cm (Huda et al., 2003).
Food and feeding: Feeds on bottom dwelling invertebrates and crustaceans (Rahman, 2005).
Habitats: Inhibits inshore coastal waters; also enters estuaries and freshwaters (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991). inhibits shallow sandy and muddy bottom in coastal areas (Rahman, 2005). Found in the Sundarbans (Huda et al., 2003).
Fishery information: Of no interest to inland waters (Talwar and Jhingran, 1991).
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REFERENCES
Bloch ME and Schneider JG (1801) M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit Jo. Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Auctoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum. M. E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae.: i-lx + 1-584, Pls. 1-110.
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. 181.
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. 28-29.
Rahman AKA (2005) Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd edition, Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, pp. 43-44.
Sauvage HE (1878) Sur quelques pleuronectes appartenant aux genres Synaptura et Cynoglossus et provenant de la Cochin-chine et du Laos. Bulletin de la Société philomathique de Paris (7th Série) 2: 92-96.
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. 1047-1048.
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