Greenstripe barb
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{About||other fishes known as silver barb|Silver barb (disambiguation){{!}}Silver barb|the barb called striped barb|Striped barb}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Bhava vittata.png
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Bhava vittata
| display_parents = 3
| authority = (Day, 1865)
| parent_authority = Hiranya Sudasinghe, Lukas Rüber & Madhava Meegaskumbura, 2023
| synonyms = {{Specieslist
| Puntius vittatus | Day, 1865
| Barbus vittatus | (Day, 1865)
}}
}}
The greenstripe barb, silver barb or striped barb (Bhava vittata) is a tropical freshwater and brackish ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related fishes. This species is found in South Asia. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Bhava.{{Cof genus|genus=Bhava|access-date=5 January 2025}}
Taxonomy
The greenstripe barb was first formally descripted as Puntius vittatus in 1865 by the British military surgeon and naturalist Francis Day with its type locality given as Cochin In 2023 Hiranya Sudasinghe, Lukas Rüber and Madhava Meegaskumbura proposed the new monotypic genus, Bhava, for this species.{{Cof family|family=Smiliogastrinae|access-date=5 January 2025}} This taxon is classified within the subfamily Smiliogastrinae within the family Cyprinidae.{{cite web |url=https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification |title=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification |access-date=5 January 2025 |publisher=California Academy of Sciences}} The wide distribution of this taxon may indicate that it is a species complex rather than a single species.
Etymology
The greenstripe barb is the only member of the genus Bhava, a word on Pali or Sanskrit means "existence or being", an allusion the authors did not explain. The specific name, vittata, means "banded", an allusion to the stripe on the rear part of the dorsal fin in individuals over {{cvt|2|cm}} in length.{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/smiliogastrinae/ |title=amily CYPRINIDAE: Subfamily SMILIOGASTRINAE Bleeker 1863 (Small Barbs) |date=27 December 2024 |access-date=6 January 2025 |author=Christopher Scharpf |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}
Description
The greenstripe barb has black dots on the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. The dot on the dorsal fin is elongated into a band. They young are more stripey. The overall colour is silver with a yellowish-green iridesensce and a darke edge to the scales.{{cite web |url=https://chasesfishes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SILVER-BARB.pdf |title=SILVER BARB, GREENSTRIPE BARB, Puntius vittatus |author=Chase Klinesteker |year=2005 |access-date=6 January 2025 |publisher=Chase Klinesteker| work=Chase's Fishes}} This species has a maximum published total length of {{cvt|5|cm}}, although {{cvt|3.5|cm}} is more common.{{FishBase|Puntius|vittatus|id=12170|month=October|year=2024}}
Distribution and habitat
The greenstripe barb is found in South Asia where it occurs from eastern Pakistan, most of India south of the Punjab east to Bihar and throughout Peninsular India, as well as in Sri Lanka. It can be found in a variety of habitats including isolated ponds, rivers, submerged vegetation, primary streams, coastal and slow flowing streams, pools, lakes, mangroves, marshes and paddy fields.
Biology
The greenstripe barb moves slowly over the substrate, picking at algaa, zooplankton and detritus. They prefer open waters with mud substrate, sometimes being recorded from river mouths near the sea. They are oviparous and the females scatter eggs among the submerged vegetation.
Utilisation
The greenstripe barb is collected for the aquarium trade and also to be used as bait.