Chitala chitala
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Osteoglossiformes
Family: Notopteridae
Genus: Chitala
Species:
C. chitala
Binomial name
Chitala chitala

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

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

  1. 1 2 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Chitala chitala" in FishBase. May 2014 version.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Seriously Fish: Chitala chitala. Retrieved 24 May 2014
  4. 1 2 3 Roberts, T.R. (1992). Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383.
  5. ↑ "Chital Macher Jhol". bongong.com. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "นารายณ์อวตาร ตอนที่ 1 "มัตสยาวตาร"". huexonline (in Thai).
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