Edit Badis assamensis

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Name

Scientific name

Badis assamensis

Described by

Authority Ahl, Year 1937

Family

Badidae

Common names

Not recorded

Photograph credits

All 8 credited

Summary

Badis assamensis is a badid from the Brahmaputra River basin in Assam state, northeast India, and the largest species in its genus. Like mo…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

75mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 75 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 15–25°C, pH 6–7.5

Hardness

3–10dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Territorial

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

India, Brahmaputra, Dibru

Writing

Etymology

Not written yet

Distribution

The full extent of its range remains somewhat unclear. It was first thought to be endemic to the Brahmaputra River basin in Assam state, northeast India but ma…

Habitat

The neotype locality is a slow-moving stream that flows through a forested area with trees growing down to the banks and into the water in some cases. The wate…

Aquarium size

A single pair or small group can be housed in a tank with a base measuring 75 ∗ 30 cm or more.

Maintenance

B. assamensis will thrive in a well-structured set-up with a sand or gravel substrate plus plenty of water-worn rocks and pebbles to provide cover. Plant speci…

Water conditions

Temperature: This species is subject to seasonal temperature fluctuations in nature and is comfortable between 15 – 25 °C with even greater extremes being tole…

Diet

Badis species are micropredators feeding on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and other zooplankton. They can be a little picky in the aquarium a…

Behaviour and compatibility

Can be kept in a community tank provided tankmates are chosen with care. It is slow-moving with a retiring nature and may be intimidated or outcompeted for foo…

Sexual dimorphism

Females are smaller, have duller patterning and a noticeably shorter, rounder-looking body profile then males. Males also develop slightly extended finnage as …

Reproduction

Members of this genus are cave spawners that form temporary pair bonds and are not usually too difficult to breed provided the tank is arranged correctly (see …

Notes

Like most badids this species is poorly documented and has yet to find significant popularity in the aquarium hobby. It is easily confused with B. blosyrus at …

Like most badids this species is poorly documented and has yet to find significant popularity in the aquarium hobby. It is easily confused with B. blosyrus at first glance as the body patterning of the two is almost identical but can be distinguished by its slightly larger adult size, noticeably shorter jaw profile and some other, mostly internal, meristic characters.

Prior to 2002 the family Badidae included just five species of which only B. badis and, to a lesser extent, Badis dario (referred to as B. bengalensis by some sources) were popular in the aquarium hobby. However an extensive revision paper by Kullander and Britz released that year resulted in the erection of no less than ten new species along with the genus Dario into which B. dario was moved and designated the type species. Dario currently contains only three members which are most easily distinguished from Badis by their small adult size (usually less than 1"/2.5 cm1.0 in), predominantly red colouration, extended first few dorsal rays/pectoral fins in males, straight-edged (vs. rounded) caudal fin, lack of visible lateral line and less involved parental behaviour. Badis species now number fifteen with several new ones described recently and others awaiting description.

Some of them are not always easy to identify correctly. For example B. badis, B. chittagongis, B. ferrarisi, B. kanabos, B. khwae, B. ruber, B. siamensis and B. tuivaiei all exhibit a dark cleithral spot just above the base of the pectoral fin. However B. khwae, B. ruber and B. siamensis all have an additional blotch on the caudal peduncle, and B. badis can be told apart from B. kanabos by possessing a series of dark markings in the dorsal fin and/or at its base (vs. a single marking at the front of the fin) and only faint or indistinct vertical bars on the flanks (vs. a series of dark narrow bars). B. badis, B. chittagongis, B. dibruensis, B. tuivaiei and B. ferrarisi only differ in some morphological counts although the latter has very distinctive patterning, displaying a series of black vertical bars along the centre of the flanks.

Badids have historically been considered members of the families Nandidae or Pristolepididae and it was not until 1968 that Barlow proposed a separate grouping for them. They share some characteristics with anabantoids, nandids and channids; most notably for aquarists the typical spawning embrace in which the male wraps his body around that of the female. More recent studies have concluded that this procedure is an ancient trait inherited from a common ancestor to all these families. In the 2002 revision paper all Badis, Dario and Nandus species were found to share a uniquely bifurcated (split) hemal spine on the penultimate vertebra and the authors hypothesise that this may represent evidence of the monophyly of this group. They further propose that the family Nandidae should be restricted to include only Nandus species with the other genera (Polycentrus, Monocirrhus, Afronandus and Polycentropsis) grouped together in Polycentridae. Following this system the Nandidae and Badidae are only separated by differences in morphology and egg structure although the phylogenetic relationships between them are yet to be fully-studied.

These recent studies have also shown that there exist several groups/clades within the genus, each containing species that are most closely-related to one another. The B. badis group is distinguished only by the cleithral spot and contains B. badis, B. chittagongis, B. dubruensis, B. ferrarisi, B. kanabos and B. tuivaiei. B. ruber, B. siamensis and B. khwae comprise the B. ruber group and are most easily identified by the combination of cleithral spot plus caudal peduncle blotch. The B. assamensis group consists of B. assamensis and B. blosyrus with a unique body pattern of light and dark striping while the B. corycaeus group includes B. corycaeus and B. pyema which possess an ocellated marking at the base of the caudal fin along with a reduction in the number of sensory pores on the head.

There are two unique species which don't fit into any of these groups; B. kyar is separated by its relatively elongated body shape, pattern of vertical barring and band-like caudal fin marking; B. juergenschmidti is similar to B. kyar in some respects but the first vertical body bar is straight (vs. curved), vertical bars 5, 6 and 7 are solid (vs. vertically split) and the dorsal and lower caudal fin lobe are edged in white in males (vs. no white patterning). In the phylogenetic study B. kyar was found to represent the sister group to either the B. ruber or B. badis/B. assamensis clades depending on the test performed and further studies are required to determine the exact placement of these two within the genus.

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References

5 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References