# Siamese tigerfish

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{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Tigerfish037.JPG
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name = iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Vidthayanon, C. |date=2011 |title=''Datnioides pulcher'' |article-number=e.T180969A7656475 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T180969A7656475.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Datnioides pulcher
| authority = ([Kottelat](/source/Maurice_Kottelat), 1998)
| synonyms = 
*''Coius pulcher'' <small>Kottelat, 1998</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Datnioides|pulcher|month=June|year=2023}}</ref>
}}

The '''Siamese tigerfish''' ('''''Datnioides pulcher'''''), also known as the '''Siamese tiger perch''', is a species of [ray-finned fish](/source/ray-finned_fish) belonging to the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Lobotidae](/source/Lobotidae), the tripletails and tiger perches. This fish is [endemic](/source/Endemism) to [Indochina](/source/Indochina) and is assessed as [Critically Endangered](/source/Critically_Endangered) by the [IUCN](/source/IUCN).

==Taxonomy==
The Siamese tigerfish was first formally [described](/source/Species_description) as ''Coius pulcher'' in 1998 by the Swiss [ichthyologist](/source/ichthyologist) [Maurice Kottelat](/source/Maurice_Kottelat) with its [type locality](/source/Type_locality_(biology)) given as [Bung Borapet](/source/Bueng_Boraphet) in Thailand.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus|genus=Datnioides|access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref> Following his description of ''C. pulcher'' Kottelat determined that the [type species](/source/type_species) of the [genus](/source/genus) ''Coius'', ''Coius cobojius'', was a [junior synonym](/source/junior_synonym) of ''[Anabas testudineus](/source/Anabas_testudineus)'' so ''Coius'' is a junior synonym of ''[Anabas](/source/Anabas)'', with ''Datnioides'' being the correct name for the tiger perch genus.<ref name = Kottelat>{{Cite journal |author=Maurice Kottelat |year=2000 |title=The type species of the genus-group names ''Coius'' Hamilton, 1822 and ''Datnia'' Cuvier, 1829 and the type-genus of the family-group name Datnioididae Bleeker, 1858 |journal = Journal of South-east Asian Natural History |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=91–94 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270508360}}</ref> The Siamese tigerfish and the finescale tiger perch (''[D. microlepis](/source/Datnioides_microlepis)'') were considered to be [conspecific](/source/conspecific) as ''D. microlepis'' until Kottelat described ''D. pulcher''.<ref name=Kottelat1998>{{cite journal |last=Kottelat |first=M.  |title=Fishes of the Nam Theun and Xe Bangfai basins, Laos, with diagnoses of twenty-two new species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae, Balitoridae, Cobitidae, Coiidae and Odontobutidae |journal=Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters |year=1998 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1–128}}</ref><ref name=Kottelat2013>{{cite journal |last=Kottelat |first=M.  |title=The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries |journal=Raffles Bulletin of Zoology|year=2013 |volume=27 |pages=1–663}}</ref> The 5th edition of the ''[Fishes of the World](/source/Fishes_of_the_World)'' classifies this genus as one of two genera in the family Lobotidae, alongside the tripletails in the genus ''[Lobotes](/source/Lobotes)'', which it places in the order [Spariformes](/source/Spariformes).<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |author1-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |year=2016 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |publisher=[John Wiley & Sons](/source/John_Wiley_%26_Sons) |place=Hoboken, NJ |pages=502–506 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |lccn=2015037522 |oclc=951899884 |ol=25909650M |doi=10.1002/9781119174844}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The Siamese tigerfish has the [specific name](/source/Specific_name_(zoology)) ''pulcher'', meaning "beautiful", a choice Kottelat did not explain but is thought to be an allusion to its barred colour pattern.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ |title=Series EUPERCARIA (Incertae sedis): Families CALLANTHIIDAE, CENTROGENYIDAE, DINOPERCIDAE, EMMELICHTHYIDAE, MALACANTHIDAE, MONODACTYLIDAE, MORONIDAE, PARASCORPIDIDAE, SCIAENIDAE and SILLAGINIDAE |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |access-date=29 October 2023 |date=9 March 2023 |publisher=Christopher Scharpf |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217162719/https://etyfish.org/eupercaria/ }}</ref>

==Description==
The Siamese tigerfish has the toothless [palatine](/source/Palatine_bone) and [vomer](/source/vomer) characteristic of the tiger perches, as is the rounded caudal fin is rounded and rounded lobes on the anal and second dorsal fins creating the appearance of having three caudal fins.<ref name = Fishbase2>{{FishBase family|family=Datnioididae|month=June|year=2023}}</ref> This species has 4, occasionally 5, wide vertical bars on the orange-brown body. The first bar runs from the nape over the [operculum](/source/Operculum_(fish)) and onto the thorax and around the lower surface of the body, the second starts at the base of the spiny part of the dorsal fin to immediately in front of the origin of the anal fin, the thirds extends from the join of the spint and sift rayed parts of the dorsal in to the soft rayed part of the anal fin and the fourth bar is on the rear part of the [caudal peduncle](/source/caudal_peduncle). The area of the back in front of the origin of the dorsal fin is straight.<ref name=SeriouslyFish>{{cite web| title=''Datnioides pulcher'' (KOTTELAT, 1998) Siamese Tiger Perch | url=https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/datnioides-pulcher/ | publisher=SeriouslyFish | access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref> This species has a maximum published [standard length](/source/standard_length) of {{cvt|40|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution and habitat==
The Siamese tigerfish is endemic to Indochina where it is found in the basins of the [Mekong](/source/Mekong) and [Chao Praya](/source/Chao_Phraya_River) rivers, east to the middle and lower Mekong in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It has been [extirpated](/source/extirpated) from Thailand. This is a freshwater fish found in the main rivers, tributaries and lakes connected to rivers. It prefers areas with submerged wood and rocks with crevices.<ref name = iucn/>

==Biology==
The Siamese tigerfish is a predatory species, fish and shrimp make up most of its diet.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Conservation==
The Siamese tigerfish was targeted by fishers as a food fish in Thailand and Cambodia but was a valued [aquarium](/source/fish_keeping) fish and was mainly fished for export in this trade. This, combined with damming of the watercourses it lives in, has caused drastic declines in its  population. It has been locally extinct in Thailand since the 1990s and only Vietnam, occasionally exports live specimens into the trade. The IUCN assess this species as Critically Endangered.<ref name = iucn/> There have been attempts to breed this fish in captivity.<ref name = ASAP>{{cite web |url=https://speciesonthebrink.org/species/siamese-tiger-perch/#:~:text=Siamese%20Tiger%20PerchDatnioides%20pulcher&text=Artificial%20breeding%20has%20been%20attempted,to%20catch%20or%20posses%20it. |title=Siamese Tiger Perch ''Datnioides pulcher'' |date=16 October 2017 |access-date=29 October 2023 |publisher=Asian SpeciesAction Partnership}}</ref>

==See also==
*[List of brackish aquarium fish species](/source/List_of_brackish_aquarium_fish_species)
*[Brackish-water aquarium](/source/Brackish-water_aquarium)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5641741|from2=Q73019320}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siamese Tigerfish}}
Siamese tigerfish
Category:Fish described in 1998
Category:Fish of Thailand
Category:Taxa named by Maurice Kottelat

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Siamese tigerfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_tigerfish) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_tigerfish?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.