SARATOGA (FISH)

The 'saratoga', ''Scleropages leichardti'', also known as the 'spotted bonytongue', 'spotted saratoga', or 'southern saratoga', is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia. It belongs to the subfamily Osteoglossinae, or arowanas, a primitive group of teleosts. Like all arowanas, it is a carnivorous mouthbrooder.
Along with the gulf saratoga (''S. jardinii''), the saratoga is also known as the 'Australian arowana' (mainly by non-Australian aquarists) and 'barramundi', although the latter name is nowadays reserved in Australia for the unrelated ''Lates calcarifer''.
This species is found in turbid waters and has a more restricted distribution than the other ''Scleropages'' native to Australia, ''Scleropages jardinii''.

Contents

Description

Conservation status

References

Description

Like all ''Scleropages'', ''S. leichardti'' is a long-bodied fish with large scales, large pectoral fins, and small paired barbels on its lower jaw. Each scale on its dark colored body has a red or pink spot; this feature distinguishes it from ''S. jardinii'', which has several reddish spots on each scale in a crescent shape. ''S. leichardti'' is a slimmer fish than other ''Scleropages''; a 90 cm (35 in.) fish was weighed at only 4 kg (8.8 lbs.), compared to 17.2 kg (38 lb.) for a ''S. jardinii'' of similar length. The depth of its body is 23-25% of its Standard Length, and it has fewer fin rays than ''S. jardinii''.

Conservation status

This species is not currently listed on any CITES appendix. [1]. Its IUCN Red List status is Lower Risk/near threatened (LT/nt) [2]. Although it does not occur naturally in Indonesia, it is a protected species in that country.
It has been stocked in number of dams in Queensland, Australia

References

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★ Dragon Fish, The, , , , Kingdom Books England, 1999, 1852791004