Chitala chitala
| Chitala chitala | |
|---|---|
| |
| Specimen from Karachi, Pakistan | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Osteoglossiformes |
| Family: | Notopteridae |
| Genus: | Chitala |
| Species: | C. chitala
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chitala chitala F. Hamilton, 1822
| |
Chitala chitala (Assamese: চিতল sitawl, Bengali: চিতল, chitol) is a knifefish from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan,[1] found in the Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges and Mahanadi River basins.[2] It is sometimes known as the Indian featherback or Indian knifefish.[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
C. 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 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]
As food
Chital maasor jul, chital machher jhol, Chital Maccher Muitthya and Chital Maccher Peti are a regional delicacy in Bangladesh and neighbouring Assam and West Bengal in India.[5]
In religion
This species has a place in Hinduism as one of the avatars of Lord Narayana (Vishnu); in the first episode titled "Matsya", Narayana was born as a golden knifefish to kill the demon.[6]
References
- ^ a b Chaudhry, S. (2010). "Chitala chitala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T166510A6225101. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T166510A6225101.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Chitala chitala" in FishBase. May 2014 version.
- ^ a b c d e Seriously Fish: Chitala chitala. Retrieved 24 May 2014
- ^ a b c Roberts, T.R. (1992). Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383.
- ^ "Chital Macher Jhol". bongong.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "นารายณ์อวตาร ตอนที่ 1 "มัตสยาวตาร"". huexonline (in Thai).
External links
Media related to Chitala chitala at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Chitala chitala at Wikispecies
