Chitala chitala (Assamese: চিতল sitawl, Bengali: চিতল, chitol) is a knifefish from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan,[1] found in the Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges and Mahanadi River basins.

[3] The true C. chitala is very rare in the aquarium trade.

Unlike all its relatives, it usually has a series of golden or silvery bars along the back, resulting in a faint striped appearance.

[3][4] Additionally, it has a series of fairly small, sometimes indistinct, non-ocellated dark spots towards the far rear of the body (at the "tail").

[5] This species has a place in Hinduism as one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu; in the first incarnation of "Matsya", Vishnu was born as a golden knifefish to kill the demon.