Body gr eenish-yellow with 5-9 black bars onflanks. Dorsal fin grey with black spots. First spine oftenblack. Pectoral fin yellowish and other fins pinkish towhite. Peritoneum silvery and speckled with melanophores.Gill rakers reaching between third and fourthrakers below when appressed. Gut S-shaped with a largeanterior loop and 3 pyloric caeca. Scales small and ctenoid,cheeks and opercle scaled and with a flat spine.Preopercle serrated posteriorly and has spikes ventrally.Males with longer paired fins, brighter color and smallersize than females. Pseudobranch developed or not. Gillmembrane free from isthmus. Vomer and palatinetoothed. Survive temperatures of up to 31°C, salinities ofup to 12‰ and oxygen level of 3 mg/l. A schooling fishin lower reaches of rivers, weed-free, deep and clear waters.Maximum age 21 years, total length 51 cm andweight 4.8 kg. Maturity in 1-2 years of life at least at 15cm total length. Spawning from end of March to earlyApril. Brackish water populations migrate into fresh water.Absolute fecundity up to 200,000 eggs with a diametersof 2.5 mm. Food include zooplankton, insect larvae,crustaceans, molluscs and leeches in juveniles, and mostlyfish in larger fish, and cannibalism is common.