Distribution, threats and conservation status of Hypselobarbusthomassi (Day, 1874), a poorly known cyprinid fish of the Western Ghats
freshwater ecoregion
Anvar Ali 1, Siby Philip 2, Neelesh Dahanukar 3,
C.R. Renjithkumar 4, A. Bijukumar 5 & Rajeev Raghavan 6
1,2,6 Conservation Research Group (CRG), St.
Albert’s College, Kochi, Kerala 682018, India
2 Department of
Zoology, Nirmalagiri College, Koothuparambu,
Kannur, Kerala 670701, India
3 Indian Institute of Science Education and
Research (IISER), Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune,
Maharashtra 411008, India
4 School of Industrial Fisheries (SIF), Cochin University of Science & Technology (CUSAT), Kochi, Kerala
682016, India
5 Department of Aquatic Biology &
Fisheries, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, Kerala 695581, India
3,6 Systematics, Ecology & Conservation
Laboratory, Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO), 96 KumudhamNagar, Vilankurichi Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
641035, India
1 anvaraliif@gmail.com, 2 siby@conservationresearchgroup.com,3 n.dahanukar@iiserpune.ac.in, 4 renjith.kumar347@gmail.com,5 abiju@rediffmail.com, 6 rajeevraq@hotmail.com (corresponding
author)
Abstract: The Red CanareseBarb, Hypselobarbus thomassi (Day, 1874) is an endemic cyprinid fish of the rivers of the Western Ghats
of India, which has been listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ in the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. Like many of
its congeners, H. thomassi is poorly known
with very few verified records and voucher specimens in the past decades. Based on fresh materials collected from
three west flowing rivers of Kerala, we provide information on its identity,
distribution, phylogenetic position, threats and conservation. An updated conservation assessment of
this species following the IUCN Red List criteria is also provided.
Keywords: Barb, freshwater fish, Gonoproktopterus, India, IUCN Red List.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3838.5202-13 | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4AC19BCE-A83C-495E-819B-76D89EF5DDE9
Editor: Topiltzin Contreras MacBeath, Universidad Autónomadel estado de Morelos, México. Date of publication: 26 December 2013 (online
& print)
Manuscript details: Ms # o3838 | Received 02
November 2013 | Final received 17 December 2013 | Finally accepted 18 December
2013
Citation: Ali, A., S. Philip, N. Dahanukar, C.R. Renjithkumar, A. Bijukumar & R. Raghavan (2013). Distribution,
threats and conservation status of Hypselobarbus thomassi (Day, 1874), a poorly known cyprinid
fish of the Western Ghats freshwater ecoregion. Journal of Threatened
Taxa 5(17): 5202–5213; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3838.5202-13
Copyright: © Ali et al. 2013. Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Funding: Rajeev Raghavan thanks the Mohammed Bin ZayedSpecies Conservation Fund (MBZSCF; Project 1225670) and the North of England
Zoological Society (NEZS), Chester Zoo for funding the project on ‘Lost fishes
of the Western Ghats’. Neelesh Dahanukar is supported by the Inspire
Faculty Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Government of India.
Competing Interest: The authors declare no
competing interests. Funders had no role in study design, collection, analysis
and interpretation of data and manuscript writing.
Author Contribution: AA, SP, CRR, AB & RR
carried out the field work and collected the specimens; RR studied museum
specimens; AA performed morphometry, ND carried out
the extraction of DNA and related molecular laboratory work; SP carried out the
phylogenetic analysis; AA, SP, ND, AB & RR wrote the manuscript.
Author Details: Anvar Ali is interested in taxonomy and systematics of freshwater fishes of
the Western Ghats. Siby Philip is interested in molecular phylogenetics, evolution and biogeography of freshwater
fishes of the South Asia region. Neelesh Dahanukar works in taxonomy, ecology and
evolutionary biology of fishes and amphibians with emphasis on mathematical and
statistical analysis. C.R. Renjithlumar works on diversity, distribution and
conservation of freshwater fishes of the Kerala region of Western Ghats. A. Bijukumaris interested in biodiversity documentation and taxonomy, and involved in
biodiversity/ environmental education activities to facilitate conservation. Rajeev Raghavanis interested in interdisciplinary research focused on generating information
and developing methods to support conservation decision-making in freshwater
ecosystems.
Acknowledgements: RajeevRaghavan thanks Ralf Britz,
Natural History Museum (NHM), London for his help with the examination of Day’s
materials, for photographs and useful discussions; Helmut Wellendorf,
Natural History Museum, Vienna (NMW); Leo Smith and Kevin Swagel,
Field Museum, Chicago (FMNH) for their help in providing photographs and
radiographs of syntypes; AmbilyNair for her constant help and support; K. Krishnakumar,Fibin Baby and BennoPereira for assistance and logistics in the field.; AnvarAli, C.R. RenjithKumar, A. Bijukumarand Rajeev Raghavan thanks the local fishers in and
around Chalakudy, Pooyamkuttyand Thenmala for the cooperation and help during the
field work.
The publication of this article is
supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), a joint initiative
of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the
European Commission, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of
Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.
For figures, images, tables -- click here
Introduction
Hypselobarbus thomassi(Day, 1874) (Images 1 & 2) is a poorly known large cyprinid species endemic
to the Western Ghats freshwater ecoregion in
peninsular India (Devi & Ali 2011). Day (1874, p707) described Barbus (= Hypselobarbus) thomassi from South Canara as a large barb growing to more
than 450mm in length. Subsequently,
Day (1878, p 567; 1889, p 311) provided additional notes on this species.
Historic literature (Day 1874, 1879, 1889) suggested that this species is
restricted in distribution to the inland waters of the erstwhile South Canara, i.e., the area encompassing current day Dakshin Kannada District of Karnataka, and Kasargod District of Kerala.
Like many other species within this genus, H. thomassihas also been poorly represented in collections, and not many records are
available in the primary literature. The first record of H. thomassi outside its type locality was most likely made by Jayaramet al. (1976) from the rivers of the Cardamom Hills, as previous ichthyological surveys in Travancore (e.g., Pillai 1929; John 1936) and the AnamalaiHills (Silas 1951) had not mentioned this species. Subsequent compilations and
checklists (for e.g., Talwar & Jhingran 1991; Menon 1999; Easa & Shaji 2003; Devi et
al. 2005) provided the distribution range for H. thomassias South Canara and Cardamom Hills. Later, many researchers added new
records (although not supported by voucher specimens) of this species from
various rivers in Kerala (see Table 1).
In the absence of recent records and contradictory claims made by
researchers, the exact distribution range of H. thomassiremained uncertain. Abraham et al.
(2011) indicated that only three species of Hypselobarbus,viz., H. curmuca, H. kolus and H.kurali are present in river Kallada, and suggested that the reports of H. thomassi from this river are not correct and is a
case of misidentification (R. Abraham pers.
comm. cited in Devi & Ali 2011). Hence, based on the assumption that H. thomassi,
is restricted to an area of <10km2 as two fragmented locations in
the Nethravati and Kabinirivers, this species was listed as ‘Critically Endangered/CR’ in the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species (see Devi & Ali 2011). A recommendation for carrying out urgent
surveys in the known areas of occurrence as well as validation of the identity
of the southern Kerala populations was also made (Devi & Ali 2011).
Recently, Knight et al. (2013a) cleared the taxonomic ambiguity
surrounding the identity of H. thomassi after
making fresh collections from its type locality. They also examined a single specimen of
the species from the Athirapilly waterfalls in Chalakudy River, Kerala, and suggested that they are
conspecific with the populations found in South Canara,
its type locality; and that the claims made by Devi & Ali (2011) on the
taxonomic distinctiveness of the Kerala population needs to be substantiated.
Based on specimens collected from the Chalakudy,Periyar and Kallada rivers
as well as re-examining materials that formed the basis of the study of Abraham
et al. (2010), we provide additional information on the current distribution
range of H. thomassi in the Western Ghats
freshwater ecoregion. Based on the updated information on
distribution and threats, we then propose an updated Red List assessment for
this endemic species.
Materials and Methods
Materials examined
Hypselobarbus thomassi,
CRG-SAC.2013.41, 13.vi.2013, 1 ex., 106.4mm SL, Vettilapara, 10.2870N & 76.4980E,Chalakudy River, Kerala, India, coll. R. Raghavan & A. Ali; Hypselobarbus thomassi, CRG-SAC.2013.72, 05.iv.2013, 1 ex.,
138.31mm SL, Rosemalai, 8.9100N &
77.1640E, Kallada river, Kerala, India,
coll. Renjith Kumar; Hypselobarbus thomassi, DABFUK F 15, 20.vi.2010, 1 ex., 83mm
SL, Thenmala, 8.8740N & 77.1950E,Kallada River, Kerala, India, coll. A. Bijukumar; Hypselobarbus thomassi, CRG-SAC.2004.201, 04.iii.2004, 1 ex.,
127.07mm SL, Pooyamkutty, 10.1690N &
76.7930E, Periyar River, Kerala, India,
coll. R. Raghavan et al.
Photographs and X-ray
Barbus thomassi, F.
Day, MCZ 4270, 1 ex, South Canara, India; Barbus thomassi, F.
Day, FMNH 2317, 1 ex, South Canara, India; Barbus thomassi, F.
Day, NMW 54767, 1 ex, South Canara, India (also
radiograph - see Image 3); Barbus thomassi, F. Day, BMNH 1889.2.1.562, 1 ex, South Canara, India.
Museum abbreviations
BMNH: Natural History Museum, London; CRG-SAC: Conservation Research
Group, St. Albert’s College, Kochi; DABFUK: Department of Aquatic Biology and
Fisheries University of Kerala, Trivandrum; FMNH: Field Museum, Chicago; MCZ:
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; NMW: Natural History Museum, Vienna.
Taxonomy
We use the generic name Hypselobarbusinstead of Gonoproktopterus following Arunachalam et al. (2012), Yang et al. (2012), and Knight
et al. (2013a,b,c).
Morphometric data collection
Counts and measurements follow Pethiyagoda et
al. (2012) and Knight et al. (2013a). Measurements were taken using a digital calliper to the nearest
0.1mm. Subunits of body are
presented as percent of standard length (SL) and
subunits of head are provided as percent of head
length (HL) (see Table 2).
DNA isolation and molecular phylogeny
Muscle tissue was harvested from a fresh specimen each collected from
two different river systems, Chalakudy and Kallada in Kerala (CRG-SAC.2013.42, CRG-SAC.2013.72.1) and
was preserved in absolute ethanol. The tissue was digested at 600C
for two hours using the STE buffer (0.1M NaCl, 0.05 MTris-HCl, 0.01M EDTA, 1%SDS) with 15μl
Proteinase K (20mg/ml) per 500ml of STE buffer. DNA was extracted using
conventional phenol-chloroform method and re-suspended in nuclease free
water. Polymerase chain reaction
was performed to amplify mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1)
gene, using the forward primer Fish R1 (5’- TCAACCAACCACAAAGACATTGGCAC-3’) and
reverse primer Fish R1 (5’- TAGACTTCTGGGTGGCCAAAGAATCA -3’) (Ward et al. 2005).
PCR reaction was performed in a 25μl reaction volume containing 5μl
of template DNA (~200ng), 2.5μl of 10X reaction buffer (100 mM Tris pH 9.0, 500 mM KCl, 15mM MgCl2, 0.1% Gelatin), 2μl of 25mM MgCl2, 1μl of 10mM dNTPs, 1μl of each primer, 1μl Taq polymerase (1U/μl) and
12.5μl nuclease free water. The thermal profile was 10 minsat 950C, and 35 cycles of 1 min at 940C, 1 min at 540C
and 2 mins at 720C, followed by extension
of 10 mins at 720C. Amplified DNA fragments were purified
using the ‘Promega Wizard Gel and PCR clean up’
system and sequenced. The purified
PCR products were sequenced using ABI prism 3730 sequencer(Applied Biosystems, USA) and Big dye terminator
sequencing kit (ABI Prism, USA).
BLAST tool (Altschul et al. 1990) was used to analyze the integrity of the sequence. The sequences were submitted to NCBI GenBank (accession numbers pending). We retrieved additional sequences for
other related species from NCBI GeneBank database
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). GenBank accession numbers for the sequences used for the
analysis are provided in Table 3 and Fig. 1. Sequences were aligned using MUSCLE
(Edgar 2004). A Maximum Likelihood
(ML) phylogeny was built in PHYML ver 3.0 (Guindon et al. 2010) using the dataset after finding out
the best fit nucleotide substitution model using MrAIC (Nylander 2004).
Results and Discussion
Values of morphometric characters of the specimens that we collected
(Table 2) are within the general range as observed in the putative topotypes studied by Knight et al. (2013a). Whatever minor variations that were
observed were due to the reason that closely related large growing cypriniform fishes, often tend to have an allometric growth pattern (Mina et al. 1996; Patimar & Farzi 2011),
resulting in discrepancy in morphometric proportions (also see Ali et al.
2013).
Description
Body elongate, laterally compressed, dorsal profile convex with the pre
dorsal contour ascending up to dorsal fin origin then descending gently towards
caudal peduncle. Ventral
profile also convex anteriorly up to pelvic fin origin, almost flat up to anal
fin base, then slanting sharply to the caudal base.
Head laterally compressed, eyes positioned somewhat superiorly, visible
from dorsal and ventral aspects. Nares placed very close to the antero-superior
rim of the orbit. An elevated flap
is present at the middle of the nares. Mouth sub-terminal, reaching to vertical at middle of
nostrils, U shaped in ventral aspect with interrupted labial fold. Two pairs of thin barbels; the rostral pair shorter than the maxillary one. Rostral barbels,
when adpressed reach the base of maxillary barbels and a point in vertical from the posterior
extremity of the nostrils.
Dorsal fin origin above 10th scale of the lateral line and is
slightly in advance of pelvic fin origin; sharply pointed at apex with a
concave distal margin. Posterior
margins of pectoral and pelvic fins convex, curved not
reaching to vertical from insertion of pelvic fin and anal fin
respectively. Anal
fin with a concave distal margin; caudal fin deeply forked; both the lobes with
pointed tips, upper lobe slightly longer than the lower one.
Dorsal fin with four simple and nine branched rays, the last one
branched to the base. Last unbranched dorsal fin ray longest followed by the first
branched ray. Pectoral fin with one simple and 15 branched rays. Pelvic fin with one
simple and nine branched rays. Anal fin with three simple and five
branched rays, last one branched to the base. Caudal fin with 9+8 branched rays and
3-4 procumbent rays above and below the principal fin rays of each lobe.
Lateral line complete with 33–34 pored scales, plus one unperforated scale at the base of the caudal fin. Eleven predorsal scales (excluding the
notched one at fin origin) and 14 circumpeduncularscales (½-3-1-2-½ scale in transverse line). Transverse scale count
between dorsal fin origin and pelvic fin origin ½+5+1+3 and 3½
scales between lateral line and anal fin. There exist 21 pre ventral scales and 30
pre anal scales. Dorsal base
sheathed with 9–10 scales where as the anal fin with 5–6 scales. One scale row between
the urogenital opening and anal fin origin. The two axillary scales present at
the pelvic fin base exceed a bit beyond the posterior insertion of the fin.
Colouration
Dorsal side of the body and the flanks above the lateral line are
greenish grey in colour and the flanks below lateral line and the ventral side
are bright silvery in colouration. Body devoid of any
distinct markings. All the
fins orange-red in colour at their proximal ends and with a greyish tinge at
the distal ends. Head, scales and
rostral barbels with many minute scattered chromatophores but is absent on the maxillary barbels (when viewed under microscope).
Squamation
Observations from the present study as well as those carried out earlier
on the genus Hypselobarbus have revealed that
these large barbs have a wide range in their lateral line scale counts (for
e.g., 31–36 in H. thomassi; 37–39
in H. lithopidos) (Day 1874; Ali et al. 2013;
Knight et al. 2013a).
Distribution
Hypselobarbus thomassi is
endemic to the Western Ghats of India (Dahanukar& Raghavan 2013). It is currently known as fragmented
populations from several small west flowing rivers in the Western Ghats
freshwater ecoregion, viz., Kempuhole(Karnataka State) (Knight et al. 2013a), Chalakudy, Periyar and Kallada (Kerala
State) (Image 4). There are at
least 26 west flowing and two east flowing river systems between Kempuhole and Chalakudy, and six
west flowing and one east flowing river systems between Periyarand Kallada (see River Research Center2013 for a list of rivers in Kerala). However, comprehensive ichthyological surveys
carried out during the last decade and a half (Kurupet al. 2004; River Research Center 2013 and
references therein) have failed to record H. thomassifrom any of these rivers. Although
local knowledge of fishers in Chandragiri River reveal that the species is sometimes caught, there are no
voucher specimens to confirm this. Nevertheless, the location of the Chandragiri basin in the larger South Canaralandscape (the type locality of the species) may actually mean that the species
could be present in the river. The
records of H. thomassi from two east flowing
river systems, Kabini River of Cauvery River system (Easa & Shaji 2003), and Tunga-Bhadra (Ahmad & Venkateshwarlu2012; Ahmad et al. 2013) and Mula-Mutha Rivers of
Krishna River system (Wagh & Ghate2003), are difficult to verify as there are no voucher specimens. It is also essential to note that the
record of this species from Mula-Mutha River by Wagh & Ghate (2003), based on
the collections made during 1992–1995, is likely to be wrong because the
species was neither recorded during previous (Fraser 1942; Suter1944; Tonapi & Mulherkar1963), nor later (Kharat et al. 2001) studies.
Until reliable records backed up by voucher specimens are available from
the east flowing rivers (Cauvery and Krishna), we considerer H. thomassi to be restricted to the west flowing rivers of
the Western Ghats. We therefore
exclude the records of the species from east flowing drainages in the
distribution map (Image 4).
Population status
Currently there is very little information on the population status of H.thomassi from its native range. Menon (2004)
mentioned that an extensive search in South Canara,
the type locality H. thomassi, resulted in the
collection of only one specimen. Local knowledge of fishers in the Chalakudyand Periyar rivers reveal that the fish is not common
and is rarely caught. Extensive
surveys in the Kasargod District of Kerala State
(erstwhile South Canara - type locality) including Chandragiri (Biju 2005) as well
as neighbouring basins of Uppala and Manjeshwaram (Biju et al. 1999 a,b) did not yield any specimens
of H. thomassi. Although, Ramachandraet al. (2012) suggested that H. thomassi is
extirpated from several west flowing rivers of Karnataka including Kali, Bedti, Aghanashini, Sharavati and Nethravati, Knight
et al. (2013a) collected several specimens from Nethravatiindicating that the fish is still extant.
Habitat and Ecology
Hypselobarbus thomassi inhabits
pool-riffle, run and glide habitats in fast to moderately flowing streams
shaded with a fine amount of riparian vegetation. It favours clear, well
oxygenated water flowing gently over substrates that are extensively
encountered in these microhabitats such as boulders, bedrocks and sand. The
adults of the species always dwell in moderately deep pools, whilst the
juveniles are seen in the shallow areas associated with the pool-riffle and run
habitats. The habitats of H. thomassi in the three river systems of Kerala are shown
in Images 5–7.
Phylogenetic position
A genetic distance of 0.1% was observed between the cox1 sequence of H.thomassi, from the ChalakkudyRiver and Kallada River. Interestingly, the sequence generated
from the specimen collected from Kallada River (Fig.
1) demonstrates the uniqueness with a sequence from the GenBank(HM010715) which was deposited as H. lithopidos(from Rosemalai - also in the KalladaRiver system) (see Arunachalam et al. 2012). These three sequences formed a monophyletic
group (Fig. 1) which was sister to the topotypic sequences of H. lithopidoscollected for the present study. The average genetic distance between the sequence of topotypic H. lithopidos, collected from South Canara, and the H. thomassisequences were 4.85%. This confirms
that the sequence HM010715, collected from Rosemalai,
is in fact H. thomassi and not H. lithopidos as argued by Arunachalamet al. (2012). Our
phylogenetic analysis and additional observations made in two recent papers
(Ali et al. 2013; Knight et al. 2013a) demonstrates that Arunachalamet al. (2012) provides an inaccurate picture of the phylogenetic relationship
of the genus Hypselobarbus.
Threats and conservation
To the best of our knowledge, there is no targeted fishery of H. thomassi as a food fish anywhere in its distribution
range. However, they are caught
along with other species of Hypselobarbus as
well as Mahseer (Tor sp.) in the Kallada River in Kerala. Unmanaged aquarium trade (see Raghavan et al. 2013) is a concern as local fishers
acknowledge the fact that juvenile H. thomassiare sometimes caught as by-catch during aquarium fish collections for its
congener, H. jerdoni in the rivers of Dakshin Kannada and Kasargoddistricts of Kerala (=erstwhile South Canara). Destructive fishing practices especially
dynamiting is a major threat to the species in the streams around Pooyamkutty in Periyar River, as
well as in Umayar, Rosemalaiand Katalapara regions of Kalladariver. Poisoning and electric
fishing are prevalent in the Sullia region of Dakshin Kannada, especially when the water levels are low
(see Ali et al. 2013).
Currently, H. thomassi has been listed
as ‘Critically Endangered’ (Devi & Ali 2011) in the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species based on limited distribution information available during
the assessment. Additional
information on distribution, threats and taxonomic clarifications (Knight et
al. 2013a; this paper) have led to a scenario where
the conservation status of the species needs to be re-assessed. The proposed Red List Status of the
species has been provided in Appendix 1.
Conclusions
In spite of research that began more than two hundred years ago, our
knowledge on the diversity and distribution of freshwater fishes of Western
Ghats is far from complete. Studies
such as those reported in the present paper, as well as others (for e.g., Katwate et al. 2012; Ali et al. 2013; Emmanuel et al. 2013;
Knight et al. 2013a,b,c;) are addressing this gap in
knowledge on species distribution, widely termed as the ‘Wallaceanshortfall’ thereby facilitating the development and implementation of
conservation policies and action in this exceptional region of freshwater biodiversity.
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