This species is traded under several names including ‘royal danio’, ‘blue-spotted hill trout’, and ‘blue-dotted mirror fish’.

It can be distinguished from congeners by possessing a single row of bluish-green spots along the length of the body, white margins on the dorsal and anal fins, 37-38+1 lateral line scales, and fleshy rudi…

Wild examples are rarely-seen in the aquarium hobby although selectively-bred ornamental strains are widely-available for which care is identical.

These are normally traded as ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ chromide and have a solid yellow-orange colour pattern with no dark elements.

It exhibits a widespread sympatry with the con…

This species is euryhaline and mostly inhabits brackish estuaries, coastal lagoons and the lower reaches of rivers.

It also occurs in freshwater habitats, however, including a number of inland lakes in Sri Lanka although it appears to have been introduced intentionally.