(Right now the "Previous" and "Next" doesn't maintain serial. We're working to getting it fixed,)

Scientific Name: Ophisternon bengalense McClelland, 1844

Synonym: Ophisternon bengalensis (Currently unaccepted)

English Name: Bengal eel
Local/Bangla Name: Baush (বাউশ), Banehara (বানেহারা)
Bonyfish : Ophisternon bengalense

Photo: DoF

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Synbranchiformes
Family: Synbranchidae
Description:
The fish has an eel-like, robust body with a rounded abdomen and lacks scales. Its coloration ranges from brownish and greenish to greenish-black along the back, with a lighter abdomen, and the entire body is evenly covered with melanophores. The head is short and compressed with a rounded snout and fleshy lips, with the upper jaw being longer. The gill membrane forms a simple crescentic transverse fold, free from the isthmus, and there are four branchial arches with well-developed gills. The lateral line is conspicuous. The dorsal fin is low and located ahead of the anal fin, which is also low and situated in the posterior half of the body. The caudal fin is fairly conspicuous.
Habitat & Distribution in Bangladesh:
Occurs mainly in thick vegetations of muddy, still water bodies, such as lagoons, swamps, canals and rice fields.
Environment:
Freshwater, Brackish (Along the coast of the Bay of Bengal)
Main References:

Rahman AKA 2005 Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd ed., Zool. Soc. Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, xviii + 394 pp.

Other References:

Hossain M, Wahab M, Belton B (2012) The Checklist of the Riverine Fishes of Bangladesh. FAN Bangladesh. 1. 29-39.

Siddiqui KU, Islam MA, Kabir SMH, Ahmad M, Ahmed ATA, Rahman AKA 2005 Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd ed., Zool. Soc. Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, xviii + 394 pp. AKA, Haque EU, Ahmed ZU, Begum ZNT, Hassan MA, Khondker M, Rahman AKA 2005 Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, 2nd ed., Zool. Soc. Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, xviii + 394 pp. MM (eds.) 2007 Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, Vol. 23. Freshwater Fishes. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka 300 pp.

IUCN Bangladesh (2015) Red List of Bangladesh Volume 5: Freshwater Fishes. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp xvi+361

DoF Bangladesh (2023) Album: Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bangladesh, Dhaka. 200 pp.

Giri SS ed, 2017 Monographs on Threatened Freshwater Fishes of South Asia. SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 305 p.

DNA Barcodes from Bangladesh
GenBank Accession Number:
Other DNA Barcodes & Nucleutide Sequences
Global IUCN conservation status:
BD IUCN conservation status:
Other Information