| Family: |
Nemacheilidae (Brook loaches) |
| Max. size: |
6.43 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
demersal; freshwater; depth range 0 - 1 m |
| Distribution: |
Asia: India. |
| Diagnosis: |
This species is distinguished from all its congeners by the following set characters: dorsal fin with 9½ or 10½ branched rays; caudal fin with 9+8 or 8+8 or 8+7 branched rays; lateral line is complete; with axillary pelvic lobe; processus dentiformis is poorly developed; male with suborbital flap; body depth 12.8-16.0 % SL. Colouration: body with 12-13 irregular dark-brown blotches or bars on flank, alternately arranged with 11-16 dark brown saddles of varying shape and size on the back; dorsum of head with a distinct rhomboid dark brown mark encircling a pale oval area on the nape; basicaudal bar black, with its dorsal extremity presenting as a small, slightly oblique blotch, its ventral extremity presenting as a vertically elongated blotch, more or less connected by an indistinct black region between the two (Ref. 132199). |
| Biology: |
This species occurs in cool, clear, swift-flowing freshwater streams over a substrate of gravel, cobble and boulders covered in lush green algal growth. It was collected from shallow clearwater regions of depth ~0.5-0.8 m. Associated species were Neolissochilus paucisqamatus,
Opsarius dogarsinghi, O. ngawa, Botia histrionica, Schistura rubrimaculata, Glyptothorax trilineatus, and Batasio affinis. The two dissected females (3.88-4.18 cm SL) have unripe ovaries and the stomachs in both contain unidentifiable vegetable matter (Ref. 132199). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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