printer friendly version Pristolepis fasciata Order Perciformes Suborder Percoidei (Bleeker, 1851) Family Nandidae Genus Pristolepis Species fasciata Migration patterns for important Mekong fish (40) back to species list Pristolepis fasciata is found throughout the area of the present survey, from Chiang Saen in the north to the Mekong delta. Fishermen throughout the area covered by the survey, particularly in Cambodia, reported that the species is more com- mon in permanent lakes than in the Mekong mainstream. This finding is supported by Rainboth (1996), who reported that this species occurs ”in sluggish or standing waters, including reservoirs, from Burma to Indonesia“. Within the main river, the species lives in areas containing submerged wood and shrubs, from where it enters into smaller streams at the onset of the flood season (e.g., reported by fishermen in Khammouan and Xayaboury provinces of the Lao PDR and Chiang Rai province in Thailand). Fishermen throughout the survey area agreed that Pristolepis fasciata does not undertake longitudinal migrations, but makes lateral migrations from the Mekong River to the floodplains during the flood season, and back again at the onset of the dry season. These migrations are triggered mainly by changes in water levels. Eggs were observed in March (3 reports), April (9), May (12), June (9), July (4), August (1), September (1) and October (1). The reports for August and September were of specimens caught in a flood-plain lake in Cambodia. In addition, one fisherman from Can Tho province, Viet Nam, reported that eggs could be seen throughout the year, indicating that while Pristolepis fasciata is an opportunistic breeder its main spawning period is at the beginning of the flood season. .