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{{Italic title}}{{Taxobox
{{Italic title}}{{Taxobox
| name =
| name = ''Chitala chitala''
| image = Chitala chitala Thomas.jpg
| image = Chitala chitala Thomas.jpg
| status = NT
| status = NT

Revision as of 17:03, 15 June 2017

Chitala chitala
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
C. chitala
Binomial name
Chitala chitala

Chitala chitala (Template:Lang-bn, Template:Lang-as, Template:Lang-ta) is a knifefish from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan,[1] where found in the Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra and Mahanadi River basins.[2] It is sometimes known as the Indian featherback.[3] In the past it frequently included several related Chitala species, but these are now regarded as separate species.[2][4] The main species confused with this species is C. ornata (clown featherback or clown knifefish); a Southeast Asian species seen regularly in the aquarium trade.[3] The true C. chitala is very rare in the aquarium trade.[3]

Description

Chitala chitala in Assam, India. Notice the stripes to the back and the dark spots on the lower rear part of the body (both relatively indistinct)

Chitala chitala reaches a maximum length of 122 cm (48 in), but more commonly reaches about 75 cm (30 in).[2] It is overall silvery in color. Unlike all its relatives, it usually (but not always) has a series of golden or silvery bars along the back, resulting in a faint striped appearance.[3][4] Additionally, it has a series of fairly small, sometimes indistinct, non-ocellated dark spots towards the far rear of the body (at the "tail"). This separates it from C. ornata, which has ocellated spots (dark spots surrounded by a paler ring) and lacks bars along the back. The two species have frequently been confused.[2][3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Template:IUCN2010
  2. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Chitala chitala". FishBase. May 2014 version.
  3. ^ a b c d e Seriously Fish: Chitala chitala. Retrieved 24 May 2014
  4. ^ a b c Roberts, T.R. (1992). Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383.