Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July
2019 | 11(9): 14212–14215
New record of Blue Perch Badis badis (Anabantiformes: Badidae) from
Godavari River basin of Telangana State, India
Kante
Krishna Prasad 1 & Chelmala Srinivasulu 2
1,2 Natural History Museum and Wildlife Biology & Taxonomy Lab, Department of Zoology, University
College of Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana 500007, India.
2 Systematics,
Ecology & Conservation Laboratory, Zoo Outreach Organization, No. 12 Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampatti,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India.
1 kpmanjeera@gmail.com,
2 chelmalasrinivasulu@gmail.com (corresponding author)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4820.11.9.14212-14215
| ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3FA2F572-DD33-431B-91AE-5D6795CA1466
Editor: Neelesh Dahanukar, Indian Institute
of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India. Date
of publication: 26 July 2019 (online & print)
Manuscript details: #4820 | Received 13 January 2019 | Final received 24
June 2019 | Finally accepted 01 July 2019
Citation: Prasad, K.K. & C. Srinivasulu
(2019). New record of
Blue Perch Badis badis
(Anabantiformes: Badidae)
from Godavari River basin of Telangana State, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(9): 14212–14215. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4820.11.9.14212-14215
Copyright: © Prasad & Srinivasulu 2019.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium
by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: University Grant
Commission, New Delhi.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements:
We acknowledge the Head,
Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University,
Hyderabad for providing facilities and encouragement. We extend our sincere
thanks for the study and collection permission (Rc.No.10873/2015/WL-2; Dated:16.09.2015)
and support by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Telangana State
Forest Department and District Forest Officers, Sangareddy and Mancherial
Districts for conducting the present study. KP acknowledges the research
funding from UGC, New Delhi. We thank Gundena Devendar, Gandla Chetan Kumar and
the staff of Forest Department of Sirpur and Sangareddy District for field assistance.
Abstract: Badis badis (Hamilton, 1822), a freshwater fish species, has been
reported for the first time from the Godavari River basin of Telangana State,
India. One specimen of B. badis was collected from a stream near Mubarakpur Village in Sangareddy
District (Manjeera sub-basin) and another from a
stream near Sirpur (T) Town in Asifabad
District (Wardha sub-basin), Telangana State, India. This publication provides information about B.
badis occurrence in India, a short description of
the collected specimen, and a discussion on its habitat and threats.
Keywords: Asifabad, Chameleon Fish, freshwater fish, Manjeera River, Percomorpha, Sangareddy, Wardha River.
Badis badis (Hamilton, 1822) is a freshwater fish which exhibits
remarkable colour patterns on its body with blue iridescent marks on the
fins. Due to its attractive and
colourful pattern, it is used as an ornamental fish species and exploited in
the aquarium trade (Gupta et al. 2016).
This fish belongs to the family Badidae and is
commonly known as Blue Perch or Chameleon Fish.
Badidae is distributed in southern Asia, from
Pakistan to India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand (Kullander & Britz 2002;
Schindler & Linke 2010; Britz
& Kullander 2013; Froese & Pauly 2018).
Globally, Badidae comprises of two genera,
namely Badis (22 species) and Dario
(seven species) (Kullander & Britz
2002; Fricke et al. 2018; Froese & Pauly
2018). In India, members of Badidae are distributed in the river basins of the Ganges
in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, Yamuna in Himachal Pradesh, Brahmaputra in
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (Menon 1999; Geetakumari
& Kadu 2011; Valdesalici
& van der Voort 2015), Meghna in Meghalaya (Britz & Kullander 2013), Tuivai in Manipur (Vishwanath & Shanta 2004), Mahanadi
in Odisha (Menon 1999; Jayaram 2010), Godavari in Chhattisgarh (Karmakar & Datta 1998) and
Madhya Pradesh (Yadav 2005, 2006), Tunga (Britz & Ali 2015) and Sharavati
in Karnataka (Dahanukar et al. 2015), and Penna (Chembarampakkam Tank) in Tamil Nadu (Knight & Devi
2009).
A few records are available regarding the distribution
of B. badis in peninsular India, namely in the
Godavari River basin of Maharashtra (Day 1878), Chhattisgarh (Karmakar & Datta 1998), and
Madhya Pradesh (Yadav 2005, 2006), the Mahanadi River basin in Odisha (Menon
1999), the Pennar River basin in Tamil Nadu (Knight
& Devi 2009), and the Tungabhadra River basin in Karnataka (Dahanukar et al. 2015).
Devi & Indra (2003) reported this species from the Eastern Ghats,
but the exact location is not known. In
this paper, we report the occurrence of B. badis
for the first time in the Manjeera and Wardha
sub-basins of the Godavari River basin in Telangana State, India.
Material and Methods
We followed random sampling during the surveys
conducted in the streams across the Sangareddy and Asifabad districts, Telangana, to study fish
diversity. Fish were collected using
cast nets with the help of fishermen.
Collected specimens were photographed, labelled, and preserved in 4%
formalin. Meristic and morphometric
measurements were taken following Jayaram (2010) and Armbruster (2012). Morphometric measurements were taken point to
point to the nearest 0.1mm using Mitutoyo digital callipers. Morphometric values, except the total,
standard, and head length, were expressed in percentage of the standard length
of the fish. Additionally, subunits of
the head were expressed as percentage of head length. Identification of the fishes was done based
on Kullander & Britz
(2002), Jayaram (2010), and Froese & Pauly
(2018). Specimens (NHM.OU.F-26-2015 and
NHM.OU.F-01-2017) were deposited in the Natural History Museum, Osmania
University, Hyderabad, India.
Result
We collected two specimens of B. badis from Telangana, India (Fig. 1).
Genus Badis Bleeker,
1853
Badis badis (Hamilton, 1822)
Materials examined: Telangana State, India: NHM.OU.F-26-2015, 13.x.2015,
stream near Sirpur-(T) Town, Wardha sub-basin, Asifabad District, 19.4840N & 79.5940E,
161m, coll. Kante Krishna Prasad, Gundena
Devender & Gandla Chethan
Kumar; NHM.OU.F-01-2017, 28.iv.2017, stream near Mubarakpur
Village, Manjeera sub-basin, Sangareddy
District, 17.6390N & 78.0230E, 508m, coll. Kante Krishna Prasad & Hyderaboni
Laxman.
Distinguishing characters: Badis badis is distinguished from its other congeners in the
combination of the following characters: body moderately elongated in shape,
compressed on the lateral sides; vertical bars on lateral side; abdomen
rounded. Head large, laterally
compressed; snout blunt. Specific dark
blotch on superficial part of cleithrum; operculum
with one sharp spine; a small blue spot rounded by a black ring on each
shoulder; base of the scales shine silver.
Scales of moderate size, ctenoid.
Lateral line incomplete; lateral line runs unto the posterior of dorsal
fin; lateral line row scales 28. Dorsal
fin with 16–18 hard spines and 7–8 branched rays, prominent black blotches
along dorsal fin base, and middle with narrow white edge. Pectoral fins with one soft ray and 10
branched rays; pelvic fin with one hard ray and five branched rays. Anal fin with three spines and six branched
rays. Caudal fin rounded. Detailed morphometric measurements, ratios,
and meristic counts are presented in Table 1.
Habitat: At Sirpur, a lone specimen
of B. badis (Image 1A) was collected in a
stream consisting of submerged boulders and small pebbles with sand silt as
substratum. The riparian vegetation on
both sides of the stream was dominated by Pink Morning Glory Ipomoea sp.
and Lesser Cattail Typha sp. The
stream was polluted with organic waste dumped through sewer lines from a nearby
village. The species was collected from
a ditch in the streambed with Water Thyme Hydrilla sp. and Tape Grass Vallisneria sp.
The place where the species was captured was in the shadow of riparian
vegetation. In the stream, Laubuka laubuca
(Hamilton, 1822), Pethia ticto (Hamilton, 1822), Puntius chola
(Hamilton, 1822), and Systomus sarana (Hamilton, 1822) were observed.
At Mubarakpur, another lone
specimen of B. badis (Image 1B) was
collected in a stream with sand silt as substratum and dominated by emergent
vegetation of Water Thyme Hydrilla sp., Water Lily Nymphaea sp.,
Lotus Nelumbo sp., Water Cabbage Pistia, Dense Flower Knotweed Polygonum sp.,
and Tape Grass Vallisneria sp. The riparian vegetation included Babool Acacia sp., Pink Morning Glory Ipomoea
sp., Algaroba Prosopis sp., and Lesser Cattail
Typha sp. on both the banks. This
species shared its habitat with Esomus danrica (Hamilton, 1822), Pethia
ticto (Hamilton, 1822), Pseudambassis
lala (Hamilton, 1822), Puntius chola (Hamilton, 1822), and P. sophore
(Hamilton, 1822).
Habitat loss due to sand mining and pollution due to
organic wastes from sewers were the major threats to B. badis
at Sirpur, Wardha sub-basin; no threat was observed
at Mubarakpur of Manjeera
sub-basin.
Discussion
Badis badis originally described as Labrus
badis from the lowlands of the Ganges and
Brahmaputra drainages in northeastern India by
Hamilton (1822). Later, it was reported
by Day (1878) from Bombay and Madras presidencies (which also includes the
states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu) without
proper location information. Although B.
badis was recorded in peninsular India (Karmakar & Datta 1998; Menon
1999; Devi & Indra 2003; Yadav 2005, 2006; Knight & Devi 2009; Dahanukar et al. 2015), the exact localities were not
provided by most workers. The Telugu
vernacular name ‘Kundala’ or ‘Ka-sundara’
for this fish was first provided by Day (1878) in his works from Bombay and
Madras presidencies. Until now, the
exact locality record of B. badis in erstwhile
Andhra Pradesh is lacking. This fish was
not reported by earlier workers, though Barman (1993) opined that this may
occur in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. This may have been due to its solitary nature
and behaviour of hiding in aquatic vegetation.
Knight & Devi (2009) also expressed the same opinion about this fish
in Tamil Nadu. We too noticed this
behaviour in both areas.
We noticed the colour variation of this species in
both clear water and polluted water (Image 1).
The fish captured in the stream polluted with organic waste at Wardha
River sub-basin (Image 1A) showed dirty red and black coloured vertical bands
amalgamated on the lateral side of the body.
Its overall appearance was black with blue iridescence on the fins. On the other hand, the fish captured in the
stream with clear water at Manjeera River sub-basin
(Image 1B) showed a bright red-coloured body with six black vertical bands
alternatively on the lateral sides.
Earlier, Day (1878) too reported a similar colour variation in the
species in clear and dirty waters. The
specimens from Telangana differed from the earlier report from southern India,
particularly from Tamil Nadu, with respect to the circumpeduncular
scale count (16 vs. 19–20; Knight & Devi 2009).
The occurrence of B. badis
in the Manjeera and Wardha sub-basins of the Godavari
River reveals that this species could be more widespread than currently
known. There is a need for the study of
the distribution and population trend of this species (Chaudhry 2010) to enrich
scientific knowledge and to understand its threat status.
Table 1. Morphometric characters and meristic counts
of Badis badis
from Wardha and Manjeera sub-basins, Telangana State,
India.
Morphometric
characters |
Specimen
voucher NHM.OU.F-26-2015 |
Specimen
voucher NHM.OU.F-01-2017 |
Total
length (mm) |
34.3 |
36.3 |
Standard
length (SL, mm) |
27.9 |
28.9 |
Head length
(HL, mm) |
7.6 |
8.0 |
%
of SL |
||
Body depth |
31.2 |
35.3 |
Head length |
27.5 |
27.7 |
Head depth |
22.4 |
24.6 |
Head width |
13.7 |
14.6 |
Eye
diameter |
11.2 |
9.8 |
Snout
length |
4.5 |
5.0 |
Inter
orbital width |
8.0 |
7.9 |
Dorsal fin
base length or dorsal fin width |
57.4 |
56.6 |
Pre-dorsal
distance |
29.9 |
31.5 |
Dorsal fin
length at branched rays |
17.0 |
18.3 |
Dorsal fin
spine length |
11.7 |
18.9 |
Dorsal fin
origin to hypural distance |
70.2 |
70.8 |
Pectoral
fin length |
23.7 |
23.6 |
Pelvic fin
length |
24.8 |
26.2 |
Caudal
peduncle length |
18.6 |
16.3 |
Caudal
peduncle depth |
14.9 |
16.5 |
Pre pelvic
distance |
33.4 |
34.2 |
Pre anal
distance |
66.2 |
68.8 |
Anal fin
base length |
17.8 |
19.7 |
Anal fin
length |
30.1 |
34.5 |
%
of HL |
||
Head depth |
81.6 |
89.0 |
Head width |
50.1 |
52.9 |
Eye
diameter |
40.7 |
35.4 |
Snout
length |
16.5 |
18.1 |
Inter
orbital width |
29.1 |
28.7 |
Meristic
counts |
||
Lateral
line row scales |
28 |
28 |
Between
lateral line and dorsal fin scales |
3 |
3 |
Between
lateral line and ventral fin scales |
8 |
7 |
Between
lateral line and anal fin scales |
7 |
7 |
Transverse
scale rows |
11 |
10 |
Predorsal
scales |
8 |
7 |
Prepelvic
scales |
7 |
6 |
Preanal
scales |
21 |
20 |
Dorsal fin
rays |
XVI+8 |
XVII+7 |
Pectoral
fin rays |
i+10 |
i+10 |
Pelvic fin
rays |
I+5 |
I+5 |
Anal fin
rays |
III+6 |
III+6 |
Caudal fin
rays (principal) |
14 |
14 |
Caudal fin
rays (procurrent) |
6 |
6 |
Circumpeduncular
scales |
16 |
16 |
For
figure & image - - click here
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