Type locality is ‘Central Sumatra, Indonesia’, with additional records existing from Cambodia (Mekong drainage), Peninsular Malaysia (Perak River), Sumatra (from the Siak River, Riau province to the Musi River, South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) province) and Borneo (south and westwards from the Belait river basin in Brunei Darussalam to the Sambas drainage in West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat) province, Indonesia and probably in Sarawak, Malaysia).

It’s a member of the N. selangoricus group of species within the genus, an assemblage first recognised by Hadiaty and Kottelat (2009) and characterised by possession of two rows of horizontally-arran…

This species is also known by the vernacular ‘jungle perch’ or ‘sidebar barb’ and should not be considered an aquarium subject in all but the most extreme circumstances since it can grow to over 2 feet in length, weigh in excess of 5 kg and is a powerful, pelagic predator. It’s also a popular sport fish with a reputation for striking hard.

This species is among the more frequently-traded members of the genus, although confusion regarding its identification and natural distribution is commonplace and it’s often misidentified as B. nunus or B. xanthozonus.

It can be diagnosed as follows: <30 lateral scales; one black band on head, three on body; first black band on body overlapping first dorsal fin to the extent that almost all fin, except a narrow margin, is black, and beginning opposite centre of opercle...