Catla (''Labeo catla''; ) also known as the major South Asian carp, is an economically important South Asian freshwater fish in the carp family

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

. It is native to rivers and lakes in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and

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, but has also been introduced elsewhere in South Asia and is commonly farmed. In Nepal and neighbouring regions of India, up to Odisha, it is called Bhakura. Catla is a fish with large and broad head, a large protruding lower jaw, and upturned mouth. It has large, greyish scales on its dorsal side with a whitish belly. It reaches up to in length and in weight. Catla is a surface and midwater feeder. Adults feed on zooplankton using large gill rakers, while young ones feed on both zooplankton and phytoplankton. Catla attains sexual maturity at an average age of two years and an average weight of .

Taxonomy

The catla was formerly listed as the only species in the genus ''Catla'', but this was a synonym of the genus ''Gibelion''. More recently, Catalog of Fishes has moved this species to '' Labeo''.Eschmeyer W (2014
Cyprinus catla
CAS Catalog of Fishes This species has often been confused with the

giant barb The giant barb, Siamese Giant carp, or simply Siamese carp (''Catlocarpio siamensis''; , ; , , , or , , ; Vietnamese: ''cá Hô'') is the largest species of cyprinid in the world. These migratory fish are found only in the Mae Klong, Mekong, and ...

(''Catlocarpio siamensis'') of south-east Asia as the two taxa bear an extraordinary resemblance to each other, especially in their very large heads.

Aquaculture

The catla is one of the most important

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

d freshwater species in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

.Food and Aquaculture Organization of the United Nations, Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme: Catla catla (Hamilton, 1822) http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Catla_catla/en It is grown in

polyculture In agriculture, polyculture is the practice of growing more than one crop species together in the same place at the same time, in contrast to monoculture, which had become the dominant approach in developed countries by 1950. Traditional example ...

ponds with other carp-like fish, particularly with the roho labeo (''Labeo rohita'') and

mrigal carp The mrigal carp (''Cirrhinus cirrhosus''), () also known as the white carp, is a species of ray-finned fish in the carp family. Native to streams and rivers in India, the only surviving wild population is in the Cauvery River, leading to its IU ...

. The reported production numbers have increased sharply during the 2000s, and were in 2012 about 2.8 million tonnes per year. Catla is sold and consumed fresh, locally and regionally. It is transported on ice. Fish of weight are preferred by consumers. The Catla fish (also known as Indian carp in Vietnam) was first successfully artificially bred in Vietnam in 1986. This research was conducted by Mr. Trịnh Quốc Khánh, a Bachelor of Biology and former Deputy Director of the Mekong Delta Aquaculture Research Center under the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 (Ministry of Fisheries). He was the primary person responsible for this study. Thanks to the artificial fertilization method and the efforts of Vietnamese researchers, this study was successfully implemented.

Taxonomy

Aquaculture

References

Further reading