3 new species of fish spotted in waters of Karnataka
Mangalore, Feb 20 (UNI) Three new species of fish were spotted in the waters of Augumbe and river Sita in Shimoga district of Karnataka during the Marine Products Export Development Authority's (MPEDA) efforts to prepare a database on indigenous ornamental fishes available in the region.
According to MPEDA Ornamental Fish Development State Coordinator P K Pramod, the three new species were identified as 'Danio sp nov', 'Schistura sp nov' and 'Mesonemachelius sp nov'.
The discovery of the new species were confirmed by zoologists Dr Rama Devi and T J Indra of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Chennai.
Dr Pramod said 'Danio' and 'Schistura' were collected from a stream at 2,000 ft above MSL, reaching river Sita.
'Danio' was characterised by two pairs of elongated barbell and resembled 'Danio dangilla' and 'brachydanio rerio'.
'Schistura', yellowish brown in colour with 11-13 bands on the body, differs in fin formulae.
He said so for there was no concerted attempt to develop a scientific database on the indigenous ornamental fishes in the rivers of Karnataka, though similar works were carried out in Kerala and other parts of Western Ghats.
The newly discovered species proved that rivers in Western Ghats harboured a rich variety of fresh water species, still to be explored and described, Dr pramod added.
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