Rare 'Red Coat Fish' caught in nets in Bay

Rare Red Coat Fish caught in nets in Bay

Kalapara (Patuakhali): A rare marine fish known as 'Red Coat' was caught in fishing nets in the Bay of Bengal adjacent to Kuakata in Patuakhali. The fish's attractive bright red color and unusual structure have created great curiosity among the locals.

It is learned that the fish was caught in the net of Asad Majhi in the FB Zarif-4 trawler that went fishing in the deep sea the day before yesterday.

On Tuesday (August 4) morning, when the fish was brought to the Mayer Doa Fish Shop of Alipur Fisheries Port, eager people flocked to see the fish.

Local buyer Mohammad Sagir Akon bought the fish for 1,000 taka and preserved it. Although several rare and different species of fish were caught off the Kuakata coast at different times, local traders said that the number of such fish has been increasing recently. They demanded scientific research to find out the reason for this.

Trawler Majhi Asad said, the fish came up in the net while fishing in the deep sea. I have not seen this type of fish much before. At first, we were surprised to see the color of the fish.

Buyer Mohammad Sagir Akon said, the fish is very beautiful and exceptional to look at. So I bought it for conservation purposes. Such rare fish are also the focus of people's interest.

Research assistant of the 'Healthy Sea' project implemented in collaboration with WCS and WorldFish, funded by the Blue Action Fund, Md. Bakhtiar Rahman said, the soldier fish (Sargocentron rubrum) which is known as the Redcoat Squirrelfish in English, is an interesting marine fish of the Holocentridae family. In Bangladesh, it is known as the soldier fish, red soldier fish or red coat.

He also said, the bright red color, silver-white stripes all over the body and large eyes are its main features. It is mainly a nocturnal fish and lives in the shallow marine areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including the Bay of Bengal, coral reefs, rocky bottoms and reef-adjacent areas. It plays an important role in maintaining the balance of the marine food web by eating small shrimps, crabs and other benthic invertebrates. In addition, due to its attractive color, it is in good demand in the international marine aquarium trade and is also used locally as a food fish.

Kalapara Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Apu Saha said that various species of marine fish roam in the Bay of Bengal. Due to climate, environmental changes in the sea and the increase in the scope of deep-sea fishing, such rare species of fish are occasionally caught in the nets of fishermen. Preservation of information on these fish and scientific research will be helpful in providing more important information about marine biodiversity in the future.