Four-bar Tigerfish (Datnioides polota) Breeding Guide

The brackish four-bar tigerfish is a year-round partial spawner in the wild and has not been bred in the aquarium.

Overview

Datnioides polota, the silver tiger perch or four-bar tigerfish, is a brackish-water predator from southern Asia, ranging from eastern India and Bangladesh through Indochina and Indonesia to New Guinea. It inhabits tidal lagoons and estuaries as well as freshwater rivers and lakes beyond tidal influence. It is a slow-growing display fish; aquarium reproduction has not been reported.

Sexing

Sexual dimorphism is unknown — no reliable external characteristics separate males from females, which is one reason hobby breeding has not been achieved.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

Field study on the Musi River in Sumatra indicates the species breeds year-round and spawns in small batches each time, making it a partial (fractional) spawner. Detailed spawning sites, egg numbers and any parental behaviour are not documented.

Egg & Fry Care

No egg or fry husbandry data exist for this species in an aquarium context, since it has not been spawned in captivity. Maintenance recommendations favour brackish conditions of roughly 10–20% seawater strength, but this supports adult health rather than reproduction.

Common Challenges

The unknown sexing, brackish-to-estuarine spawning requirements, large adult size and absence of any captive-breeding protocol make this an impractical breeding subject. It is kept as a single specimen or carefully managed display fish rather than for reproduction. The name Datnioides quadrifasciatus is an invalid junior homonym; the valid name is Datnioides polota (Coius polota Hamilton, 1822).