Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 5 - 19; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 22°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672); 26°N - 10°N, 99°E - 108°E
Asia: Mekong basin in Laos, Yunnan, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam; Southeast Asia (Ref. 27732). Introduced elsewhere (Ref. 2847).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30857); common length : 10.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57235)
Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7 - 10; Anal spines: 9 - 12; Anal soft rays: 30 - 38. Color in life brown; shoulders with irregular dark marks, yellowish on opercles and thorax; median fins and pectorals brown, ventrals yellowish. Mouth very small, very oblique, upper jaw vertical and somewhat protractile, lower jaw prominent. Scales of moderate size, irregularly arranged. Lateral line curved, irregular. Caudal fin slightly emarginate or truncate (Ref. 4792). With 8-9 dorsal-fin branched rays; 33-38 branched anal-fin rays; black spot in middle of side and at caudal-fin base (Ref. 12693). Body with numerous narrow irregular oblique bars (Ref. 43281).
Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Lives in lowland wetlands (Ref. 57235). Found in marshes, swamps and canals (Ref. 43281). Inhabits shallow sluggish or standing-water with a lot of aquatic vegetation. Occurs in seasonally flooded forests throughout the middle and lower Mekong (Ref. 12693). Undertakes lateral migrations from the Mekong mainstream, or other permanent water bodies, to flooded areas during the flood season and returns to the permanent water bodies at the onset of the dry season (Ref. 37770). An air-breathing species (Ref. 118402). Feeds on zooplankton, crustaceans and insect larvae. Processed into salted, dried fish in Java (Ref. 4929). Also marketed fresh and commonly seen in the aquarium fish trade (Ref. 12693). Aquarium keeping: minimum aquarium size 100 cm (Ref. 51539).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Builds bubble nest, usually at the surface. Male usually gathers the eggs, places them in the nest and guards them until they reach free-swimming stage (Ref. 6028). Male drives the female away (Ref. 1672).
Rainboth, W.J., 1996. Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. FAO, Rome, 265 p. (Ref. 12693)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: highly commercial
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5156 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02089 (0.01260 - 0.03464), b=3.02 (2.88 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.7 ±0.23 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1; multiple spawning per year;).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 77.3 [33.3, 362.6] mg/100g; Iron = 1.35 [0.58, 2.96] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.6, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.252 [0.088, 0.716] g/100g; Selenium = 36.2 [13.7, 89.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 32.8 [8.3, 136.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 3.05 [1.47, 6.01] mg/100g (wet weight);
