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  • Mystus tengara
  • Mystus tengara
  • Mystus tengaraLeucistic specimen - West Bengal, India
  • Mystus tengaraWest Bengal,India
  • Mystus tengaraWest Bengal,India
  • Mystus tengaraWest Bengal,India
  • Mystus tengaraExtent of Posterior Fontanel indicated by arrow.
  • Mystus tengaraSpecimens sporting a golden sheen.
  • Mystus tengaraLeucistic specimen - West Bengal, India
Down Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name Mystus tengara    (Hamilton, 1822)
Common Names Tengara Catfish
Golden Catfish, Guinea Catfish, Pyjama Catfish, Tengara-malle (Denmark)
Type Locality Ponds of India.
Synonym(s) Macrones tengara, Mystus tengana, Mystus tengra, Pimelodus tengara
Pronunciation miss tuss - ten gar ah
Etymology The generic name is probably derived from the Latin mystax, meaning moustache, in reference to the long barbels. It was first used by Scopoli in 1777 making it a very old genus that has included many catfishes from throughout the world at one time or another. The specific epithet, tengara is probably derived from the local name of the fish.
Down Species Information
Size 180mm or 7.1" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification Fishes of the genus Mystus Scopoli are small to medium-sized bagrid catfishes occurring in South Asia. Roberts (1994) recognized Mystus to have an elongate cranial fontanel reaching up to the base of the occipital process, long maxillary barbel, very long adipose fin, 11–30 gill rakers on the first gill arch and 37–46 total vertebrae, about equally divided between abdominal and caudal regions. He included only eight species under the genus. Mo (1991) characterized the genus to have a thin needle-like first infraorbital, twisted and thickened metapterygoid loosely attached to the quadrate by means of ligament or a small extent of cartilage. Jayaram & Sanyal (2003) and Ferraris (2007) respectively listed 44 and 33 species of Mystus as valid.

Hamilton-Buchanan described this species and M. carcio in 'An Account of the Fishes of the Ganges', 1822 (the original species descriptions can be read here: http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/doc_home?elib_id=3060). As is well known, the labeling of the plates in this book (unfortunately not reproduced in the web version cited above) is a bit mixed up, and this applies to the plates for M. tengara and < em>M. carcio. This has contributed to the confusion on these fish.
If one follows this original description, M. tengara is a fish that is very similar to (and may even be a junior synonym of) M. vittatus. It appears that M. carcio is actually the earliest and thus correct name for this small species. This fact appears to have been missed, or at least left uncorrected, by those working with these fishes and it continues to be universally known as M. tengara.
This species is easily distinguished by its small size, golden yellow color, and small adipose fin.
Sexing Males have an elongate genital papilla in front of the anal fin.
Down Habitat Information
Distribution Asia: Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Reported from Afghanistan.
Indian waters, North Eastern India Waters, Padma, Jamuna, Brahmaputra (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Indian waters, North Eastern India Waters, Padma, Ganges (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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IUCN Red List Category
Least Concern
, range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2009.
pH 6.0 - 7.0
Temperature 20.0-27.0°C or 68-80.6°F (Show species within this range)
Down Husbandry Information
Feeding Readily feeds on live/frozen foods and other prepared foods. User data.
Furniture Prefers a heavily planted tank with little/no current. Provide plenty of driftwood as hiding spaces.
Compatibility A peaceful, shoaling species that should be kept in a small group of at least 4 individuals. Because of its small size, best kept with other small fishes (e.g. small Rasboras) or in a species tank.
Breeding Not reported.
Breeding Reports There is no breeding report.
Down Further Information
Reference An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges, pp 183, 377, Pl. 3 (fig. 61)
Registered Keepers There are 14 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
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There are 6 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
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Mystus tengara QR code LFS label creator
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Last Update 2025 Jan 02 01:37 (species record created: 2001 Apr 21 00:00)