Waikhomia Hira is most commonly found upstream of the Western Ghats. (Representational / File)
A team of scientists discovered a new species and genus of freshwater fish, Waikhomia Hira, from rivers in regions along the Western Ghats in northern Karnataka.
The genus, Waikhomia, was named after Vishwanath Waikhom, a taxonomist from the University of Manipur who discovered more than 100 freshwater fish in India.
The research was carried out jointly by scientists from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), the Indian Institute of Science, Education, and Research (IISER) and the Modern College of Arts, Science, and Commerce of Pune.
Waikhomia Hira is most commonly found upstream of the Western Ghats.
Since its first discovery in 1953 at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, the well-known Maharaja Barbs has been represented by a single species, Puntius sahyadriensis. Subsequently, 44 species of freshwater fish of the genus Puntius were tracked in the wetlands and rivers of South and Southeast Asia.
Wiakhomia specimens were collected primarily from the upper westward flowing Kali River Basin, located in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district.
The team studied the sample’s anatomy and genetics using an integrative approach and found that it no longer matched the Puntius genus.
Waikhomia Hira has distinctive diamond-shaped spots and stains on her body. Their size ranges from 29mm to 59mm, ”said Rajeev Raghavan of the KUFOS School of Ocean Science and Technology.
The Western Ghats offers a unique habitat for freshwater fish, and forest conservation alone will help those species survive, said Neelesh Dahanukar, a team member and scientist at IISER, Pune.
“Freshwater fish thrive in habitats that offer clear water and a dense forest environment. Any degradation of this habitat, due to human or other activity, will endanger its existence, “said Dahanukar.
Although Waikhomia Hira is currently known to exist in the northern Western Ghats, Raghavan said this fish may also be living in adjacent river habitats in the locality.
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