Bangka

The spotted barb, Barbodes binotatus, is a cyprinid ranging from Myanmar and Thailand through the Greater Sunda Islands to the Philippines. So ubiquitous across its range that it's often called simply 'common barb', it occurs from sea level to at least 2000 m in habitats from fast-flowing hill streams to irrigation canals and floodplain ponds. The basic pattern of a dark spot at the dorsal-fin origin and another on the caudal peduncle varies with origin.

Betta cracens is a mouthbrooding labyrinth fish from the Jambi area of Sumatra, Indonesia, and it may also occur on nearby Bangka island. The most slender member of the B. pugnax complex, it is rare in the hobby, and most fish sold under the name are misidentified or mislabelled B. pugnax, B. raja or related species. Fish collected on Bangka have appeared in the hobby as Betta sp. 'Bangka'.

Betta edithae is a paternal mouthbrooding labyrinth fish from Indonesia, recorded across Kalimantan, southern Sumatra, Bangka, Belitung and Bintan. The only member of the B. edithae group, it is separated from all other Betta spp. by its opaque or translucent branchiostegal membrane and posterior opercle. Fish from Bintan differ from Bornean specimens in several characters, and it remains unclear whether all populations are conspecific.

Brevibora cheeya is a small cyprinid from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and the island of Bangka. The type locality is a slow-flowing, acidic stream in coastal heath forest over sand and peat. Very rare in the trade, it is normally imported only as bycatch among other fishes. A complete lateral line, more scales in the lateral row and a larger adult size separate it from the better-known B. dorsiocellata.

The black snakehead, Channa melasoma, is a snakehead from southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines. It can be told apart from the similar C. baramensis, once considered a synonym, by lacking a black spot in the centre of many body scales and a barred caudal fin. In nature it appears to favour clear forest streams with mud and leaf litter, but it has also been recorded from acidic blackwater in peat swamp forest.

Desmopuntius gemellus is a rarely-traded cyprinid from eastern Sumatra and the island of Bangka, Indonesia. Like D. johorensis and D. trifasciatus, it is vertically barred as a juvenile and changes to a pattern of thin lateral stripes, a change that begins at around 20 mm SL and is normally complete by 30 to 40 mm. It inhabits peat swamp forests and associated black water streams.

Pangio shelfordii is a variably patterned kuhli loach from Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo. Its patterning varies within and between populations, and as currently understood the species represents an assemblage containing a number of unidentified taxa. Some Sumatran and Bornean populations resemble P. piperata, which often occurs alongside it. It is exported occasionally, often as bycatch among shipments of congeners.

Deissner's liquorice gourami, Parosphromenus deissneri, is endemic to the island of Bangka in Indonesia, mostly in its northern and eastern portions. For almost a century after its description in 1859 it was the only recognised member of the genus, so its name has been widely misapplied in aquarium and ichthyological literature, though it's probably always been very rare in the hobby. Males have pale subdistal bands of oval spots in the unpaired fins.

The green throat mouthbrooder, Betta chloropharynx, is a labyrinth fish described from Bangka, an island off the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. A member of the Betta waseri group, it is told apart from all others in the group by its lighter throat markings, which form a shape like a horizontal figure of eight. It generally inhabits peat swamps and blackwater streams, and a Sumatran population once thought conspecific was described as B. pardalotos in 2009.

The giant snakehead, Channa micropeltes, is a predatory fish from Southeast Asia that grows to well over a metre. Juveniles are sold as 'red' or 'redline' snakehead, but it is suitable only for public installations or the very largest private aquaria. Unlike most Channa species it is pelagic and needs plenty of room to swim, and adults become aggressive at sexual maturity.