Schistura fasciata, a new nemacheiline species
(Cypriniformes: Balitoridae) from Manipur, India
Y. Lokeshwor 1 & W. Vishwanath 2
1,2 Department of Life Sciences, Manipur
University, Canchipur, Imphal, Manipur 795003, India
Email: lokeyum24@gmail.com 1, wvnath@gmail.com2(corresponding author)
Date
of publication (online): 26 February 2011
Date
of publication (print): 26 February 2011
ISSN
0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor:K. Rema Devi
Manuscript
details:
Ms
# o2454
Received
06 May 2010
Final
received 10 December 2010
Finally
accepted 31 January 2011
Citation: Lokeshwor, Y. & W. Vishwanath (2011). Schistura fasciata, a new nemacheiline species (Cypriniformes:
Balitoridae) from Manipur, India. Journal of Threatened
Taxa 3(2): 1514-1519.
Copyright: © Y. Lokeshwor & W. Vishwanath 2011.
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use
of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of
publication.
Author
Details: Y. Lokeshwar is a Junior Research Fellow
under a project funded by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, New
Delhi. He is working on the
inventory of the nemacheiline loaches of northeastern India. He is undergoing PhD on a relevant topic
in the Department of Life Sciences, Manipur University. W.
Vishwanath is a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, Manipur
University. His field of
specialization is fish and fisheries. He is presently engaged in taxonomy and systematics of freshwater fishes
of northeastern India.
Author
Contribution: The study: YL
survey, collection, morphometric and anatomic study of nemacheiline fishes of
northeastern India and their phylogenetics; WV supervision of taxonomy and
phylogeny of freshwater fishes of northeastern India. Current paper: YL detailed examination of the nemacheiline
fishes of the Barak and its tributaries in Manipur and comparison with
specimens in ZSI, Kolkata and in MUMF. WV supervision in establishing new species and discuss taxonomic status.
Acknowledgements:We are grateful to the Ministry
of Environment & Forests, New Delhi (Project No. 14/11/2006-ERS/RE) for
financial assistance and to J. Sylvester, student of Don Bosco College, Maram,
Senapati District Manipur for helping in the collection of fishes.
Abstract: A new nemacheiline fish, Schistura fasciata sp. nov. is described here from Barak River (Brahmaputra
Drainage) of Manipur, India. The
species is characterized by 11-13 dark brown transverse bars on the flank,
moderately high adipose crest on dorsal and ventral side of caudal peduncle,
three prominent dark spots at the base of dorsal fin, dorsal fin with 8½
branched rays and an incomplete lateral line.
Keywords: Barak River, Nemacheilinae, new fish.
For figures, images, tables -- click here
Introduction
Fishes of the genus Schistura McClelland are small, hill stream fish with medially
interrupted lower lip without forming two lateral triangular pads; moderately
arched mouth, 2.0-3.5 times wider than long; usually a black bar (sometimes dissociated)
on caudal fin base; dorsal fin with one or two black marks along its base
(Kottelat 1990; Vishwanath & Laishram 2001). Eight species of the genus Schistura have been described from two major drainages of Manipur, a
hilly state in northeastern India, namely, S. manipurensis (Chaudhuri, 1912), S. kangjupkhulensis, S. prashadi, and S. sikmaiensis (Hora, 1921),S. tigrinum (Vishwanath & Nebeshwar, 2005), S. reticulata (Vishwanath & Nebeshwar, 2004), S. khugae (Vishwanath & Shanta, 2004a,b),
and S. minutus (Vishwanath & Shantakumar 2005).
Collections from the Barak River (Brahmaputra Drainage),
draining the western side of Maram Hill, Senapati District, Manipur included
specimens of Schistura which do not fit into the hitherto
described species of the genus, and is therefore described as a new species, Schistura fasciata.
Material and Methods
Fish were collected by electro-fishing technique using a DC
battery. Colour in fresh state was
noted before fixation and preservation in 10% formalin. Measurements were made
point to point with dial calipers to the nearest 0.1mm and expressed as
percentages of standard length (SL). Subunits of head are expressed as proportions of the head length. Numbers in parentheses following
meristic data indicate number of specimens examined with that count. Counts and measurements were made on
the left side of specimens and followed Kottelat (1990). The specimens are deposited in the
Manipur University Museum of Fishes (MUMF).
Schistura fasciata sp.
nov.
(Image 1
a & b)
Material examined
Holotype: Female,
21.vi.2009, Barak River at western side of Maram Hill, Senapati District,
Manipur (25023’24.66”N & 94004’09.25”E), coll. Y.
Lokeshwor, MUMF 11010, 51.5mm SL.
Paratypes: 18 females,
37.5-59.9 mm SL, MUMF 11001-11019;2 males, 59.2-68.3 mm SL, MUMF 11020-11021. Same data as holotype.
Diagnosis
A species of Schistura with the combination of characters:
11-13 dark brown transverse bars against pale yellow background on the body,
bars arranged regularly, often fused on mid-dorsal line, width of bar broader
than the interspace width; moderately high adipose crest on dorsal and ventral
sides of caudal peduncle; lateral line incomplete, reaching vertical to
posterior end of anal fin base; three black spots on base of dorsal fin; head
short (12.72-16.41 % SL), dorsal fin with 8½ branched rays; processus
dentiformes large.
Description
Morphometric data are shown in Table 1. Body small and moderately
elongated. Anterior section of the
body circular and slightly compressed posteriorly. Head short about 18.6-22.7
%SL, slightly depressed with less inflated cheeks. Male has prominent inflated
cheeks (Image 1b). Dorsal adipose
crest moderately high extends from posterior extremity of dorsal fin base to
caudal origin. Pectoral extends up
to half the length of the distance between pectoral and pelvic fin
origins. Auxiliary pelvic fin lobe
is present; pelvic fin slightly behind the origin of dorsal fin, opposite to
the first branched dorsal fin rays. Dorsal fin inserted half way between the origin of pectoral and anal
fin. Caudal fin is emarginated.
D. 3/ 8½; A. 3/5½; C. 9+8; P. 11; V. 8.
Body covered by embedded non-overlapping scales. Lateral line incomplete extends to
vertical of the posterior end of anal fin base. Cephalic lateral line system
with 10 supraorbital, 4+9 infraorbital, 10 preoperculo-mandibular and three
supratemporal pores.
Nostril is situated nearer to anterior margin of eye,
anterior nostril at the tip of a pointed flap like tube with a deeply notched
anterior rim. Mouth moderately
arched, upper lip straight with shallow median incision, lower lip with a deep
median furrow (Image 2). Strong
processus dentiformes present. Inner rostral barbel shorter than the outer one and reaches half way the
distance from the anterior extremities of the body to anterior rim of
nostril. The outer rostral barbel
reaches the anterior margin of orbit. Maxillary barbel extends to the lower margin of orbit. Head longer than depth of the body, its
width at nares is half of its lateral length. Eyes are moderate, dorsal in position and completely
invisible from ventral side. Mouth gape is wide and about half of body depth.
Intestine is with a small loop just behind stomach (Fig. 1).
Sexual dimorphism: Males are with swollen anterior body,
triangular head and faintly coloured vertical bars especially visible from the
middle of the dorsal fin to the base of the caudal fin whereas females have
well distinct marked vertical bars. The dorsal surface of males is straight horizontally and with a well
develop prominent dorsal adipose crest. The anterior dorsal profile of females are well arched and the adipose dorsal crest not prominent as in
male.
Colouration: In live, body faintly golden to grey with 11 to 13
olivaceous dark brown vertical bars. Colour pattern and number of bars are more or less variable with a
unique arrangement. 5-6 bars are
on the pre-dorsal, 3 in dorsal and 4-5 bars on the post-dorsal. Bars on the
pre-dorsal are broader than the posterior ones. They are united mid-dorsally and their inter-bands are wider
towards the posterior. All the
rays of the dorsal, ventral, pectoral and anal fins are with a row of faintly
black elongated marks. A complete
dark caudal bar with forward and backward projections present on the base of
caudal fin. Three prominent black
spots on the base of the dorsal fin; respectively extending from simple rays to
1st branched ray, from 3rd to 5th branched
rays and from 7th to last branched rays. Distal margin of fins golden. Head dark olivacious dorsally,
becoming lighter on sides.
In 10% formalin, body becomes lighter with the loss of
golden colouration in the interspace of vertical bars and on the distal margin
of fins. The olivacious dark brown bars turn to light dark grey colouration.
Etymology: The fish has been named after its dark brown bars on body.
Latin ‘fasciata’ = banded.
Distribution and Habitat: The species are known only from the type locality, Barak
River at the western side of Maram Hill, Senapati District, Manipur (Fig. 2).
The fish inhabits the pebbly bottom of large, swift flowing streams (Image 3).
Discussion
Schistura fasciata sp. nov. is close to S. khugae, S.
tigrinum and S. multifasciatus in colour pattern. But it can be distinguished from its
congeners in having 11-13 colour bars (vs. 15-30), moderately long caudal
peduncle (12.3-15.2) (vs. 12.4-20.0)% of SL, three spots on the base of the dorsal
fin (vs. 0-2), moderately long pectoral fin (14.7-19.4) (vs. 15.5-22.7)% of SL,
longer pre-anus length 72.2-80.3 (vs. 70.3-75.0)% of SL, moderately high dorsal
fin 12.1-15.6 (vs. 11.7-18.0)% of SL, moderate body depth 12.7-16.4 (vs.
10.0-18.6)% of SL, large eye 17.5-24.0 (vs. 15.1-20.5)% of HL.
Schistura fasciata sp. nov. can be distinguished from S. khugae Vishwanath & Shanta (2004 a,b) of
Khuga River (Chindwin Drainage), in having less number of bars on body
(11-13 vs. 15-16), three black spots (vs. 2) on dorsal fin base, straight upper
lip with median incision (vs. without median incision) and three unbranched
simple anal fin rays (vs. 1) and in the extent of lateral line up to posterior
end of anal fin (vs. vent or anal fin origin).
The new species can easily be distinguished from S. tigrinum Vishwanath & Nebeshwar (2005) of
Barak River in having less number of vertical body bar (11-13 vs. 17-30),
presence of black spots at the dorsal fin base (3 vs. nil) and the number of
ventral fin rays (8 vs. 7).
Day (1878) described Nemacheilus multifasciatus (now Schistura) from Darjeeling and Assam. The type in ZSI was examined but found to be in a poor state
of preservation and not suitable for comparison. Thus comparison was made based on data of Day (1978) and
Menon (1987). Schistura
fasciata sp. nov., differs from S. multifasciatus in having three simple dorsal fin rays
(vs. 2), 8½ branched dorsal fin rays (vs. 7½), 11 pectoral fin
rays (vs.12), three simple anal fin rays (vs. 2), 5½ branched anal fin
rays (vs. 5), eight ventral fin rays (vs. 9), 17 branched caudal fin rays (vs.
18) and incomplete lateral line (vs. complete lateral line). The vertical bars
in S.
fasciata sp. nov.
are more or less equal in thickness and fewer in number (11-13) however in S. multifasciatus they are thinner and numerous to the
anterior than the posterior and about (18-30).
Comparative Materials
Schistura tigrinum, holotype, 95.3mm SL, MUMF 4105; 2005, paratypes, 2 specimens, 81.6-86.1
mm SL, Barak River at Khunphung, Tamei subdivison, Tamenglong District,
Manipur, India, coll. Nebeshwar Sharma, MUMF 4106/7.
Schistura khugae, holotype, 67.0mm SL, MUMF 5013;
08.iv.2000, 8 specimens, 58.0-96.5 mm SL, Khuga River, Chindwin Drainage,
Churachandpur District, Manipur, India, coll. K. Shanta Devi, MUMF 5001-5008.
Schistura multifasciatus, holotype, Darjeeling, India, ZSI
F2677/1 (poor state of preservation).
References
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