Identity of
Hypselobarbus pulchellus
(Day, 1870) - an addendum to Knight et al. (2013 a&b)
J.D. Marcus Knight 1, Ashwin Rai 2 & Ronald K.P. D’souza
3
1 Flat L’, Sri Balaji
Apartments, 7th Main Road, Dhandeeswaram, Velachery, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600042, India
2
Department of Fisheries Microbiology,
College of Fisheries, Yekkur, Mangalore, Karnataka
575002, India
3
Department of Applied Zoology, Mangalore University, Mangalagangothri, Mangalore, Karnataka 57419, India
1 jdmarcusknight@yahoo.co.in
(corresponding author), 2 winrai@yahoo.com, 3 kevinroni@yahoo.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3946.5512
Date of publication: 26 February 2014 (online & print)
Manuscript
Details: Ms # o3946 | Received 11 February 2014
Citation:
Knight, J.D.M., A. Rai & R.K.P.
D’souza (2014). Identity
of Hypselobarbus pulchellus
(Day, 1870) - an addendum to Knight et al. (2013 a&b). Journal of Threatened
Taxa 6(2): 5512; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3946.5512
Copyright: © Knight et al. 2014. 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.
A few concerns were raised on identity of Hypselobarbus pulchellus
that we had elucidated in our previous publications (Knight et al. 2013 a,b) by Basavaraja
(2014). Even though a reply was
provided (Knight et al. 2014) to the queries raised by Basavaraja
(2014), we feel it would add clarity if a few colour photographs are shown to
elucidate the difference between H. pulchellus
and H. dobsoni which have been considered as
synonyms by Basavaraja (2014).
One of the main apprehensions raised by Basavaraja (2014) was regarding the lateral silvery band
that is present in Hypselobarbus pulchellus.
He contested that the lateral band is present in H. dobsoni also.
It is here that we would like to provide the photographs as
clarification (Image 1). Large
adults of the genus Hypselobarbus, including H.
jerdoni, H. dobsoni
and H. thomassi have dark pigmented abdominal
scales highlighting the upper body as a silvery white band. This should, however, not be confused
with the clear band that runs along the body of H. pulchellus
which is apparently clear in even small specimens of less than 100mm SL and
visible in preserved specimens as well. Moreover, even though large specimens
of H. jerdoni or H. dobsoni
may have the faint silvery lateral band, they will also have clearly
discernable black tips to the dorsal fin and caudal fin (Image 1A), which is
always absent in H. pulchellus of all size
range (Image 1 B). This can be
clearly seen in an image provided in ARKIVE
(http://www.arkive.org/hypselobarbus/hypselobarbus-pulchellus/image-G129677.html)
where a large adult H. dobsoni is
misidentified as H. pulchellus. It is pertinent to note that the image
in the link above clearly has black tips to the dorsal and caudal fins which are characters of H. dobsoni,
and not H. pulchellus.
The genus Hypselobarbus
has now been known to have a large range in the lateral line scales (Knight
et al. 2013b; Ali et al. 2013). In
Knight et al. (2013b) H. pulchellus was
reported from Sita and Tunga
rivers with 32-34+1-2 lateral line pored scales. Recently this species was also collected
from Netravathi River, Karnataka, with a lateral line
count of 32+1 pored scales, similar to the other populations found in Sita and Tunga rivers. We propose to use the genetic approach
to further elucidate the significance of the large range in the lateral line
scale count that is seen in this species.
Reference
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
Basavaraja, N. (2014). Comments
on Hypselobarbus pulchellus
part of the articles by Knight et al. (2013a,b) published in JoTT. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(1):
5417–5418; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3899.5417-8
Knight, J.D.M., A. Rai
& R.K.P. D’souza (2013a). Re-description of Hypselobarbus
lithopidos (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), based on its rediscovery from the Western
Ghats, India, with notes on H. thomassi. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(13): 4734–4742; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3602.4734-42
Knight, J.D.M., A. Rai
& R.K.P. D’souza (2013b). Rediscovery of Hypselobarbus
pulchellus, an endemic and threatened barb (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) of the
Western Ghats, with notes on H. dobsoni and H.
jerdoni. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(17):
5194–5201; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3686.5194-201
Knight, J.D.M., A. Rai
& R.K.P. D’souza (2014). Reply to the response given by N. Basavaraja to Knight et al. 2013a&b. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 6(1): 5419–5420; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3910.5419-20