Tiger barb

Tiger barb
Tiger barb schooling
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Smiliogastrinae
Genus: Puntigrus
Species:
P. tetrazona
Binomial name
Puntigrus tetrazona
(Bleeker, 1855)
Synonyms
  • Capoeta tetrazona Bleeker, 1855
  • Barbus tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855)
  • Barbus tetrazona tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855)
  • Puntius tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855)
  • Systomus tetrazona (Bleeker, 1855)

The tiger barb or Sumatra barb (Puntigrus tetrazona), is a species of tropical cyprinid fish. The natural geographic range reportedly extends throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia, 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 Puntigrus anchisporus, Puntigrus navjotsodhii, or Puntigrus partipentazona, which are similar in appearance, the only differences being the slightly different stripe pattern and the number of scales these fish have.