Ailia

Ailia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Ailiidae
Genus: Ailia
Gray, 1930
Species:
A. coila
Binomial name
Ailia coila
(F. Hamilton, 1822)
Synonyms
  • Malapterurus coila F. Hamilton, 1822
  • Malapterus (Ailia) bengalensis Gray, 1830
  • Silurus (Acanthonotus) cuvieri Gray, 1830
  • Acanthonotus hardwickii Gray, 1831
  • Ailia affinis Günther, 1864:

Ailia is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ailiidae, the Asian schilbeids or Asian butter catfishes. The only species in this genus is Ailia coila, the Gangetic ailia, a catfish is found in southern Asia.

Taxonomy

Ailia coila was first formally described as Malapterurus coila in 1822 by the Scottish surgeon, surveyor and botanist Francis Buchanan-Hamilton with its type locality given as Bengal. In 1830 John Edward Gray described a new species and placed it in a subgenus of Malapterus, Malapterus (Ailia) bengalensis which is now regarded as a synonym of Buchanan-Hamilton's Malapterurus coila, in the monospecific genus Ailia. Ailia is the type genus of the family Ailiidae, the Asian schilbeids. A. coila is most closely related to Eutropiichthys vacha with 85.63% genetic sequence identity.

Etymology

Ailia is the local name for this taxon and the related Ailiichthys punctata in India. The specific name, coila, was not explained by Buchanan-Hamilton but it is possibly a Latinisation of the Assamese kajoli, a name for this species in the Rangpur, Bangladesh.

Description

Ailia has an elongated body which reaches a total length of 30 cm (12 in), although 18 cm (7.1 in) is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

Ailia is found in Bangladesh, northern India, Nepal and Pakistan. This species is found in large rivers with turbid water running over sandy or muddy beds.

Utilisation

Ailia is of importance to local commercial fisheries.

Conservation status

Ailia' has a sharply decreasing habitat due to natural and anthropogenic causes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature have assessed Alia coila as Near Threatened because this species has substantially declined due to overfishing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ng, H.H. & Dahanukar, N. (2011). "Ailia coila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011 e.T166451A6212182. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T166451A6212182.en. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Ailia". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  3. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Ailiidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  4. ↑ "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  5. 1 2 Alam, Md. Jobaidul; Andriyono, Sapto; Lee, Soo Rin; Hossain, Mostafa A. R.; Eunus, A. T. M.; Hassan, Md. Tawheed; Kim, Hyun-Woo (2019-07-03). "Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Gangetic ailia, Ailia coila (Siluriformes: Ailiidae)". Mitochondrial DNA Part B. 4 (2): 2258–2259. doi:10.1080/23802359.2019.1627942. ISSN 2380-2359. PMC 7687414. PMID 33365500.
  6. ↑ Christopher Scharpf (23 September 2025). "Family AILIIDAE Bleeker 1858 (Asian Butter Catfishes)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
  7. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Alia coila". FishBase. June 2026 version.