Tiger barb

Tiger barb
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Genus:	Puntius
Species:	P. tetrazona
Binomial name
Puntius tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855)
Synonyms
Barbus tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855) Capoeta tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855) Barbodes tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855) Capoeta sumatraus (Bleeker, 1855)

The tiger barb or Sumatra barb, is a species of tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Puntius genus of the minnow family. The natural geographic range reportedly extends throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, with unsubstantiated sightings reported in Cambodia. Tiger barbs are also found in many other parts of Asia, and with little reliable collection data over long periods of time, definite conclusions about their natural geographic range versus established introductions are difficult. Tiger barbs may sometimes be confused with Puntius anchisporus, which are similar in appearance.

Physical description

The tiger barb can grow to about 7 centimeters long (2.75 in) and 3 centimeters wide,(1.18 in), although they are often smaller when kept in captivity. Native fish are silver to brownish yellow with four vertical black stripes and red fins and snout. The green tiger barb is the same size and has the same nature as the normal barb, but has a green body. The green tiger barb, often called the moss green tiger barb, can vary considerably in how green it looks; to some people it looks nearly black. Albino barbs are a light yellow with four barely visible stripes.

Habitat

Tiger barbs have been reported to be found in clear or turbid shallow waters of moderately flowing streams. They live in tropical climates and prefer water with a 6.0–8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5–19 dGH, and a temperature range of 77 - 82 °F or 25 - 27.8°C. Their discovery in swamp lakes subject to great changes in water level suggests a wide tolerance to water quality fluctuations. Their average lifespan is six years.

Importance to humans

Green tiger barb

The tiger barb is one of over 70 species of barb with commercial importance in the aquarium trade. Of the total ornamental fish species imported into the United States in 1992, only 20 species account for more than 60% of the total number of specimens reported, with tiger barbs falling at tenth on the list, with 2.6 million individuals imported. (Chapman et al. 1994). Barbs that have been selectively bred to emphasize bright color combinations have grown in popularity and production over the last 20 years. Examples of colour morphs (not hybrids) of tiger barb include highly melanistic green tiger barbs that reflect green over their black because of the Tyndall effect, gold tiger barbs and albino tiger barbs.

Name origins

Male tiger barb

The current taxonomic status of the species is far from being settled. There has been debate over the years as to the appropriate genus and species for this fish. In 1855, the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker described this fish as Barbus tetrazona. In 1857, Bleeker described another species under the same name. Then, in 1860, Bleeker used C. sumatraus to describe the original species. In the late 1930s, the mistake was discovered, and the tiger barb nomenclature was changed back to B. tetrazona (Alfred, 1963). More recently, Dr. L.P. Schultz has reclassified the barbs according to the number of barbels each species possesses (Axelrod and Sweeney, 1992).

However, as stated by some Zakaria-ismail (1993), “from my ongoing osteological studies that have been classified under Puntius, the genus Barbodes cannot be properly defined.” Today, we are left with three generic classifications, Barbodes, Capoeta, and Puntius, all of which appear in the literature when referring to tiger barbs and other barb species.

In the aquarium

A school of green tiger barbs in a 20 gallon tank.

The tiger barb, an active schooling fish, is usually kept in groups of five or more. They are often aggressive in numbers less than five, and are known fin nippers. If two are kept in a tank, one will eventually chase the other. Semiaggressive fish form a pecking order in the pack which they may extend to other fish, giving them a reputation for nipping at the fins of other fish, especially if they are wounded or injured. They are thus not recommended for tanks with slower, more peaceful fishes such as bettas, gouramis, angelfish and others with long, flowing fins. They do, however, work well with many fast-moving fish such as danios, platys and most catfish. When in large enough groups, however, they tend to spend most of their time chasing each other and leave other species of fish alone. They dwell primarily at the water's mid-level. One of the best tankmates for the tiger barb is a clown loach, which will school with the tiger barbs and act as they do, and the tigers act as the loaches do. Tiger barbs do best in soft, slightly acidic water. The tank should be well lit with ample vegetation, about two-thirds of the tank space. These barbs are omnivorous, and will consume processed foods such as flakes and crisps, as well as live foods.

Breeding

A P. tetrazona close to sexual maturity

The tiger barb usually attains sexual maturity at a body length of 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) in total length, or at approximately six to seven weeks of age. The females are larger with a rounder belly and a mainly black dorsal fin, while the males have a bright, red nose with a distinct red line above the black on their dorsal fins. The egg-layers tend to spawn several hundred eggs in the early morning in clumps of plants. On average, 300 eggs can be expected from each spawn in a mature broodstock population, although the number of eggs released will increase with the maturity and size of the fish. Spawned eggs are adhesive, negatively buoyant in freshwater and average 1.18 ± 0.05 mm in diameter.

Tiger barbs have been documented to spawn as many as 500 eggs per female (Scheurmann 1990; Axelrod 1992). With proper conditioning, females can spawn at approximately two week intervals (Munro et al. 1990)

Once spawning is finished, they will usually eat any of the eggs they can find. It is usually necessary to separate the fish from the eggs after spawning to prevent them from being eaten.

Common hybrids

Interspecific and intraspecific hybridization is done to achieve different colors and patterns to satisfy market demand for new tiger barb varieties. Gold and albino tiger barbs are examples of commercially produced fish based on recessive xanthic (yellow) and albino genes. These are not hybrids. Other examples are summarized below from K Kortmulder 1972. These are hybrids, however, they are sterile and are all males:

Common barb hybrids representing different color patterns (Modified from Kortmulder 1972)
Female parent species	Common name	x	Male parent species	Common name
Puntius conchonius	rosy barb	x	Puntius stoliczkanus	tic-tac-toe barb
Puntius cumingii	Cuming's barb	x	Puntius nigrofasciatus	black ruby barb
Puntius tetrazona	tiger barb

See also

• List of freshwater aquarium fish species

References

• "Barbus tetrazona". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=163655. Retrieved April 28, 2004. 
• Tiger barb on FishBase.
• Alfred, E.R. (1963). "Some colorful fishes of the genus Puntius". Hamilton 30: 135–142. 
• Axelrod, H.R.; M.E. Sweeney (1992). The Fascination of Breeding Aquarium Fish. Neptune City, N.J.: T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd.. ISBN 0866224084. 
• Chapman, F.A.; S. Fitz-Coy, E. Thunburg, J.T. Rodrick, C.M. Adams, and M. Andre (1994). "An analysis of the United States of America International Trade in Ornamental Fish". CTSA Project Final Report, University of Florida, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.: 1–55. 
• Kortmulder, K. (1972). "A comparative study in color patterns and behavior in seven Asiatic Barbus species". International Journal of comparative ethnology 14: 1–60. 
• Lambert, Derek J (1997). Freshwater Aquarium Fish. Edison, New Jersey: Chartwell Books. pp. 17. ISBN 0-7858-0867-1. 
• Munro, A.D.; C. Li-Lian, and K. Nqankee (1990). "Preliminary observations on environmental control of ovulation and spawning in a small tropical Cyprinid (Barbus tetrazona)". Proc. of the Second Asian Fish. Forum, Tokyo, Japan.: 17–22. 
• Scheurmann, L. 1990. Aquarium Fish Breeding. Baron's Educational Series Inc. Hauppauge, N.Y.
• Editore, Arnoldo. 1976. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Fishes. Simon and Schuster, Inc. New York, N.Y.
• Sharpe, Shirlie. "Tiger Barb". Your Guide to Freshwater Aquariums. http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/cyprinids2/p/tigerbarb.htm. Retrieved December 15, 2004. 
• Tamaru, C.S.; B. Cole, R. Bailey, C. Brown (1997). A Manual for Commercial Production of the Tiger Barb, Capoeta tetrazona, A Temporary Paired Tank Spawner. Publication 129. Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture.. pp. 9–14. 
• Zakaria-ismail, M. (1993). "The fish fauna of the Sungai Teris and Sungai Rengit, Krau Game Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia". Malayan Nature J. 46 (1): 201–228.