Freshwater areas in Southeast Asia and Western Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, and Java) are the natural habitat of Silver Barb (Barbonymus gonionotus). The Silver Barb is distributed throughout Bengawan Solo River, Dengkeng River, Opak River, Sidendreng Lake, and Gajah Mungkur Reservoir. According to the latest research report by Valen et al. (2022), the fish is commonly found in Kamuning River, Sampang Regency, Madura as well. The wide distribution was caused by the large river connection from the South China Sea, the Andaman Sea, and the Java Sea, which was divided by Sundaland during the Glacial period approximately 18,000 years ago, allowing the geographic conditions of freshwater seas, including the Silver Barb, stuck in the isolated locations. As a native species, research on the Silver Barb all over Indonesian waters contributes to the holistic understanding of its biogeographic conditions in Indonesia. The morphological marking of Silver Barb becomes the early step in determining the diversity of Silver Barb populations in Indonesia, where some different locations mark diverse morphological characters among the fish species. It is one of the impacts of maintaining the gene flow population.

The cultivable herbivore fish species had a total length between 14.4 to 31.2 cm. The meristic characters which divide the specimens include the dorsal fin rays 12, ventral fin rays 9, pectoral fin rays 15-16, and anal-fin rays 9. Besides, other specific morphological characteristics of Silver Barb include a compressed body, pointed snout, terminal mouth, small barbels, emarginated dorsal, sub-equal pectorals, and ventral. The wide distribution causes different local names for Silver Barb in each region. In Sumatra, Silver Barb is called ‘bale kandea’, while in West Java, it is mostly known as ‘bader putihan’.

Author: Ayu Lana Nafisyah, S.Pi., M.Sc.

Link: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/1036/1/012066