New freshwater fishes found in Western Ghats

[Mrudul Godbole]

New freshwater fishes found in Western Ghats

Biju Govind

Kozhikode: A group of senior scientists, led by K. Rema Devi and T.J. Indira of the Southern Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India, have discovered two freshwater fishes in the biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, in collaboration with researchers from various institutions.

The discovery of the two species, Betadeavrio ramachandrani and Puntius rohani, have also been published in the prestigious journal Zootaxa and in the Journal of Threatened Taxa respectively.

The new genus and species of Betadeavrio ramachandrani was discovered from Agumbe, a small tributary of Sita River, about 2 km upstream of the Onake Abbi Fall in Shimoga, Karnataka, while Puntius rohani was discovered from the Kodayar River drainage of the Kanyakumari Wildlife sanctuary and adjoining areas, said C. Radhakrishnan, joint director, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode.

Unique one

He said the genus Betadeavrio was unique in the sense that it bore characters intermediate between the genera Devario and Danio. The phylogenetic status of the new genus has been confirmed using molecular markers. The genus is named after ardent fish hobbyist Beta Mahatvaraj and the species name ramachandrani after A. Ramachandran, School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), in recognition of his contributions to fisheries, sea food production management and studies on indigenous ornamental fish, he said.

Others associated with this discovery are P.K. Pramod, Marine Products Export Development Authority, Mangalore, Fang Fang, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Te-Yu Lioa, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, K.S. Jameela Beevi, Department of Zoology, Maharajas College, Ernakulam.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the species Puntius rohani belonged to the ‘filamentosus group' that included yet another popular aquarium species—the ‘black-spot barb' or ‘Indian tiger barb'.

This species is named after Rohan Pethiyagoda of the Wildlife Trust of Sri Lanka, in appreciation for his extensive work on the freshwater fishes of India and Sri Lanka, especially his revision of the ‘filamentosus group'.

J.D. Marcus Knight, a naturalist based in Chennai also contributed to the discovery of Puntius rohani, he said. The Western Ghats of India is one of the 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots' of the world. The freshwater fishes of this region comprise more than 300 species and, of these, more than 60 per cent are endemic or unique to the region.

Explorations on

More discoveries are due, with more intensive explorations and in-depth studies of the various freshwater groups here. Many of the large barbs, endemic to the western region of India, are currently listed under ‘threatened category' owing to habitat change, pollution, over exploitation and introduction of exotics, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

Article at - http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/30/stor...3059770400.htm

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This is certainly good news. No one knows how many more species can remain there to be "discovered" by us. I hope we can protect this biodiversity hotspot.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi