THREATENED FISHES OF THE WORLD: Mystus vittatus (Bloch, 1794) (Siluriformes: Bagridae)

M. vittatus (Fig 1) is an important component of riverine and brackish water fisheries in Bangladesh (Craig et al., 2004;Hossain et al., 2006).The species is targeted by small-scale fishermen using a variety of traditional fishing gear (Craig et al., 2004;Kibria and Ahmed, 2005).This small indigenous fish species is rich in protein, micronutrients, vitamins and minerals not commonly available in other foods (Ross et al., 2003).It is also an economically important species for the aquarium industry in Bangladesh. IDENTIFICATIONThe generic name was derived from the Latin Mystax, meaning moustache, in reference to its long barbells.It was first used by Scopoli in 1777 making it a very old genus that included many catfishes throughout the world.