The Indian flying barb (''Esomus danrica''), historically flying barb, is one of the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

known in the group flying barbs owing to their extremely long barbels. It was discovered as long ago as 1822 by Hamilton. However, it is rarely seen in aquaria. It is found in

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

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 ...

, it is found in many of the same localities as ''

Danio rerio The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Danionidae of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (a ...

'' and ''

Danio dangila Danio dangila, the moustached danio, is a freshwater fish, and is the largest of the true ''Danio'' species at up to long. Its name is from its particularly long barbels. It is sometimes kept in aquariums, where its relatively passive nature all ...

'', an example being the Jorai Rivulet, a tributary of the Sankosh river in Coochbehar district, West Bengal, India. The rare fish Borellius spp. is locally named "Boirali maach". In Nepalese Terai it is called Dedhawa.

Description

This fish reaches a maximum length of 6 in (15 cm). The Indian flying barb is a silver fish with a black line on an elongated body and gold fins. Barbels reach almost to the anal fin.

Behaviour

This fish has an exceptional ability for jumping, hence its name. Research in 2001 by Fang Fang suggests that ''

Esomus ''Esomus'', or flying barbs, is a genus of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Danionidae. It is the only genus in the monotypic taxon, monotypic subfamily Esominae. The fishes in this genus are fo ...

'' is the genus most closely related to ''

Danio ''Danio'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Cyprinidae found in South Asia, South and Southeast Asia, commonly kept in aquarium, aquaria. They are generally characterised by a pattern of horizontal stripes, rows ...

'', closer even than ''

Devario ''Devario'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Danionidae, a family which also contains several other genera of popular freshwater aquarium fish such as ''Rasbora'' and ''Danio''. ''Devario'' are native to the rivers and streams ...

''. * Temperature preference: 20-25 Celsius * pH preference: 7.6 * Hardness preference: Soft to medium * Salinity preference: Zero * Compatibility: Good but fast like most danios, a largeish fish, needs plenty of space * Life span: Typically 3 to 5 years * Ease of keeping: Moderate * Ease of breeding: Moderate to hard * A tank with a tight fitting lid with no gaps is recommended.

References

*]
Abstract of Fang, F., 2003. Phylogenetic analysis of the Asian cyprinid genus Danio (telesotei, Cyprinidae).. Copeia (4):714-728.

External links

Esomus danricus''Esomus danricus''

BdFISH Bangladesh Fisheries Information Share Home (BdFISH) is a global online database of information about Fish, fish species of Bangladesh. It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on fishes of Bangladesh on the web. Over time i ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2800348 Indian flying barb Fish of Bangladesh Freshwater fish of India Indian flying barb Indian flying barb Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka Freshwater fish of Pakistan Fish of Nepal Fish of Myanmar