Edit Dawkinsia chalakkudiensis

You can suggest changes to this profile. A moderator will review each change.

Name

Scientific name

Dawkinsia chalakkudiensis

Described by

Authority Menon, Rema Devi & Thobias, Year 1999, Bracketed

Family

Cyprinidae

Common names

Not recorded

Photograph credits

All 4 credited

Summary

Dawkinsia chalakkudiensis is a cyprinid from Kerala, southern India, known from the Chalakudy, Periyar, Pamba and Achankovil rivers. It was…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

125mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 120 cm, Minimum depth 45 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 15–25°C, pH 6.5–7.5

Hardness

5–20dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Not recorded

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

India

Writing

Etymology

Dawkinsia: named for Richard Dawkins, for 'his contribution to the public understanding of science and, in particular, of evolutionary science'. chalakkudiensi…

Distribution

Initially considered endemic to the Chalakudy River system in Kerala state, southern India, but subsequently recorded from the Periyar, Pamba, and Achankovil r…

Habitat

A stream and river-dwelling species most often found in middle parts of river basins where it typically congregates in rocky pools with dense riparian vegetati…

Aquarium size

Base dimensions of at least 120 ∗ 45 cm or equivalent are required.

Maintenance

Not difficult to keep in a well-maintained aquarium, though perhaps best suited to a set-up designed to resemble a flowing stream or river with a substrate of …

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Wild fish on a variety of worms, insects, crustaceans, plant material, and other organic debris. In the aquarium it is easily-fed but a balanced diet comprisin…

Behaviour and compatibility

Can be belligerent and is unsuitable for the general community aquarium. Robust, similarly-sized cyprinids, characids, catfishes, and perhaps larger botiid loa…

Sexual dimorphism

Adult females tend to grow a little larger, are heavier-bodied, and a little less colourful than males.

Reproduction

Unrecorded but presumably a seasonal spawner in nature like its congener D. denisonii.

Notes

This species was first exported for the aquarium hobby in 1996, with the fish collected from the bottom of a waterfall in the Chalakudy River basin, Kerala and…

This species was first exported for the aquarium hobby in 1996, with the fish collected from the bottom of a waterfall in the Chalakudy River basin, Kerala and identified as D. denisonii based on colour pattern, although the latter may not have been traded until 2001.

Additional confusion arose when the name Puntius chalakkudiensis was mistakenly assigned to a fish of the genus Dawkinsia by Indian exporters prior to publication of its official description, and as a result other members of that genus, such as D. assimilis, have been sold under the name at times.

This species was formerly considered to be a member of the genus Puntius, a polyphyletic catch-all which contained over 100 species, although this situation has been largely resolved since the turn of the century.

Sahyadria was raised by Raghavan et al. (2013) in order to accommodate this species and D. denisonii. Ren et al. (2020) found that both belong in Dawkinsia, and the Catalog of Fishes and FishBase now place them there.

D. chalakkudiensis can be told apart from D. denisonii by possession of an inferior mouth (vs. subterminal), presence of a black marking in the dorsal-fin (vs. absence), and the scarlet body stripe being duller and terminating beneath or anterior to the dorsal-fin origin (vs. brighter and terminating beneath the centre of the dorsal-fin).

Editing needs JavaScript. This is the text as it was last saved.

Where does this come from?

My own experienceFor example, I've kept twelve in a planted 60 cm tank since March 2024.A website I sawFor example, an IUCN Red List assessment, a museum catalogue or a FishBase page.A paperFor example, Marshall et al. (2011), Water temperature differences in interfluvial palm swamp habitats of Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans.A book, or something not onlineFor example, Tappin (2010), Rainbowfishes: their care and keeping in captivity.Something already on the pageFor example, the Behaviour and compatibility section already says this.

Web address

Paste the address of the page that says this. What counts as a source

DOI

Paste a DOI and we will look up the rest of the reference. A DOI looks like 10.11646/zootaxa.4694.4.1, and most papers print it on the first page.

Title

Enter the title of the paper, book or page. If you leave it empty, we will use the website's address.

Authors

Separate authors with semicolons, e.g. Tan, H.H.; Ng, P.K.L.

Year

Journal or publisher

Pages

Enter the page that says this, e.g. 218 or 218–221.

Anything worth adding

Describe what you saw, or which part of the source says this.

References

5 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References