Taxonomy of Puntius sarana
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Puntius
Species: Sarana
Nomenclature of Puntius sarana
The Puntius sarana is more commonly known, as the Olive Barb. In Bangladesh, this particular fish has several names, such as Sarna puti (স্বর্ণাপুটি), Sarputi (সরপুটি), Saral puti (সরল পুটি), Kurti (কুর্তি) and Deshi sarputi (দেশী পুটি). In India, this species can also be found and it also has several names, such as Sennee, Giddi-kaoli, Maraputthi and several others (Galib, 2011).
Over the years the Olive Barb has been given several other scientific names, such as the following examples:
Babodes sarana (Hamilton, 1822)
Barbodes sarana subnasutus (Hamilton, 1822)
Barbus diliciosus (Mcclelland, 1839)
Burbus kakus (Valenciennes, 1842)
Barbus polydori (Valenciennes, 1842)
Puntius chrysopoma (Valenciennes, 1842)
(Galib, 2011)
Description of Puntius sarana
The Olive Barb is classified as “Least Concern” on the IUCN list, since it is highly distributed in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan (IUCN, 2018). However, in Bangladesh it is categorized, as a "Critically Endangered" species, due to over-fishing (Galib, 2011). This fish inhabits wetlands, rivers, canals, ponds, inundated fields and beels (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000). It can grow up to a length of 31cm and it generally breeds during the monsoon, in river rapids. They reside among vegetation and submerged boulders. Spawning time generally occurs, during the months of August and September (IUCN, 2018).
This is the largest barb, that inhabits the water-bodies in the South-East Asia regions (Akter et al., 2014). It has an elongated body form, with a small laterally compressed head. It has two pairs of sensory barbels; rostral and maxillary. Its body is covered in olive coloured scales, with a tinge of silver on it's flanks and it also has a complete lateral line. It is considered to be omnivorous, since it feeds on a mixed diet of algae, insects, single-celled organisms and fish (Galib, 2011). It may also feed on detritus, worms, molluscs and plants (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
Threats faced by the Puntius sarana
According to the IUCN-Bangladesh (2000), this fish is considered to be critically endangered due to over-fishing and the introduction of the Thai barb. According to a study carried out by Islam et. al. (2015), the Olive Barb was classified, as very rare in the Payra River, in Bangladesh. According to the study, its bio-availability in the river was around 7.89%. They also assumed, that the Olive Barb is one of the nine endangered species, that may be extinct in the near future, if fish stocks are not taken care of. The latter researchers stated that, over-fishing of Puntius sarana for human consumption, siltation, pollution and the capture of larvae and juveniles are resulting in its population declination (Islam et al., 2015). The introduction of the Barbonymus gonionotus, more commonly known as the Thai Barb, resulted in more competition for the Olive Barb. This also may have resulted in a depletion in the Olive Barb fish stock (IUCN Bangladesh, 2000).
What can be done?
In my opinion, river-farming can be carried out, to increase the numbers of this species. This involves the rearing of fry and larvae of the Olive Barb and releasing it back into the rivers, in order to enhance the fishing stock. However, it is essential that the amount of stock enhancement is controlled, as this may have detrimental impacts on the river’s ecosystem. Although, this can be done to increase fisheries capture yield in the inland water-bodies of Bangladesh, due to the higher numbers of released Olive Barbs available. Stricter laws on the capture of the Olive Barbs must be implemented, so as to decrease over-fishing. I also think that the capture of underutilised fish as human food, can be done, so as to decrease the fishing pressures on the Olive Barb. Research on Puntius sarana is also limited, therefore it would be ideal if more studies and research are carried out.
References:
Akter, S. Hassan, M.M, Nahidussaman, M and Hossain, M. A. R. H. (2014) Growth and Survival of Olive Barb, Puntius sarana (Hamilton 1822) Larvae Produced with cryopreserved versus fresh sperm [online], (Accessed on: 14/05/18).
Hamilton F (1822) An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh, 405 p.
IUCN Red List (2018) Olive Bard: Systomus sarana [online], Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/166567/6237905, (Accessed on: 14/11/2018).
IUCN Bangladesh (2000) Red List of Bangladesh: Volume 5: Freshwater Fishes [online], Available at: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/RL-549.3-003-v.5.pdf, (Accessed on: 14/11/2018).
Islam A., Hossain M., Ahsan E. and Nahar A. (2015) Status and current worries of fish diversity in the Payra river, Patuakhali, Bangladesh [online], Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272536064_Status_and_current_worries_of_fish_diversity_in_the_Payra_river_Patuakhali_Bangladesh, (Accessed on: 14/11/2018).
Galib, S. (2011) Olive barb, Puntius sarana (Hamilton, 1822) [online], Available at: http://en.bdfish.org/2011/01/olive-barb-puntius-sarana/, (Accessed on: 13/11/18).