Sahyadria chalakkudiensis

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Sahyadria chalakkudiensis
Systematics
without rank: Otophysa
Order : Carp-like (Cypriniformes)
Subordination : Carp fish-like (Cyprinoidei)
Family : Carp fish (Cyprinidae)
Genre : Sahyadria
Type : Sahyadria chalakkudiensis
Scientific name
Sahyadria chalakkudiensis
( Menon , Rema Devi & Thobias, 1999)

Sahyadria chalakkudiensis is a freshwater fish from the carp family (Cyprinidae) that occursin southwest India.

While at the first description it was still assumed that the barbel is endemic in the Chalakudy River , it has recently also been found in the Periyar and also the similar barbel living south of Palakkad , which were previously regarded as a population of the Denison barbel ( Sahyadria denisonii ) , must be added to Sahyadria chalakkudiensis according to molecular genetic studies .

features

Sahyadria chalakkudiensis becomes 12.5 cm long and has a slender, torpedo-shaped body with a pointed head and a large, forked caudal fin. The back is olive-colored, the sides of the body and the abdomen are silvery-white. Sahyadria chalakkudiensis is very similar to the closely related Denison or red striped barbel and thus differs greatly from the species of the genus Puntius . As with the Denison barb, the ends of the two caudal fin sections are white with black and yellow bands below. The first rays of the dorsal fin are red. From the tip of the snout over the upper section of the iris to below the dorsal fin there is a red band. In the Denison barbel, the strong black band on the body sides below the red, which extends from the tip of the snout through the eyes to the tail fin root, is only weakly developed in Sahyadria chalakkudiensis .

Way of life

Sahyadria chalakkudiensis lives in pristine, oxygen-rich upper reaches of rivers under overhanging trees and over stony and sandy river bottoms. It is more crepuscular than diurnal and an omnivore, which naturally feeds on worms, insects, crustaceans, plant material and organic residues.

The IUCN classifies the species as Endangered , as it has been found that various populations have declined by 50 to 70% due to uncontrolled fishing for aquarium purposes, environmental pollution and the importation of alien species.

literature

  • Menon, AGK, K. Rema Devi & MP Thobias 1999: Puntius chalakkudiensis, a new colorful species of Puntius (family: Cyprinidae) fish from kerala, south India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India v. 97 (no. 4): 61-63.

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