Current knowledge on the biology, captive breeding and aquaculture of the brackishwater catfish, Mystus gulio (Hamilton, 1822): A review

Mystus gulio, the long whiskers catfish is a euryhaline fish, which thrives well in brackishwater and freshwater environments. This species is widely distributed from Sindh, India and Myanmar to Malay Archipelago and Sri Lanka. It is a popular food fish due to its taste, nutritional value and contribution to the nutritional security as an important small indigenous fish species in Sundarban area of India and Bangladesh. Recently, catch of this species has declined in the Sundarban due to over fishing and various inadvertent ecological changes. A number of scientific studies have investigated different aspects of its biology, breeding and aquaculture, but to date no comprehensive documentation is available. Therefore, the present review provides an insight into the status of food and feeding habit, reproductive biology, breeding, farming, nutritional requirement, disease and marketing of M. gulio, which will help in future development on seed production, farming, and conservation of this species. This review also highlights the research gaps such as nutritional requirements, round the year large-scale seed production and farming systems that will help to develop future aquaculture of M. gulio in South Asia.