Barilius

Barilius ardens is a fast-swimming cyprinid from the Sita and Swarna river systems of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, southwestern India. Before its description it was usually identified in the trade as B. canarensis. A row of bluish-green vertical markings along the body and broad orange margins on the dorsal and anal fins distinguish it. It lives in well-oxygenated, moderate to fast-flowing rivers and streams.

Barilius bakeri is a fast-swimming cyprinid endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India, with records from many rivers in Kerala and Karnataka. It is traded as 'royal danio', 'blue-spotted hill trout' and 'blue-dotted mirror fish', and has a single row of bluish-green spots that get smaller with age. Its well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers are being polluted and degraded by exotic species and sand mining.

Barilius bendelisis is a large, fast-swimming cyprinid from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and probably Bhutan. Occasionally sold as 'Indian hill trout' or 'Hamilton's baril', it has 8 to 12 bluish vertical bars and, in adults, a blue-black spot on each scale. It grows to around 200 mm SL and inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers and streams, and its speed and vigorous feeding make it unsuitable for the general community.

Barilius canarensis is a cyprinid from southwestern India, known with certainty only from the Netravathi and Tungabhadra river systems in Karnataka. Its name has historically been applied in the trade to B. ardens and B. malabaricus, and it was redescribed in 2015. Two rows of bluish-green spots and broad white margins on the dorsal and anal fins distinguish it. It inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers and streams.

The Malabar baril, Barilius gatensis, is a cyprinid endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India, in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Occasionally seen in the trade, it has 13 to 15 dark blue vertical bars that often almost break up in adults. It inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers and streams, apparently favouring slower runs and pools, and its speed and vigorous feeding make it unsuitable for the general community.

Barilius malabaricus is a cyprinid from southwestern India, known with certainty only from the Payaswini and Valapattanam river systems in Kerala. Before its revalidation in 2015 it was usually traded as B. canarensis or B. bakeri 'orange fin'. Bluish-green spots along the body and broad orange margins on the dorsal and anal fins distinguish it. It probably inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers and streams.

Barilius shacra is a cyprinid from the Himalayan foothills of Nepal and northern India, in the Ganges and Brahmaputra systems, and from Bangladesh. Poorly known in the hobby but exported on occasion, it has around 12 vertical bars on each flank and a black band in the upper third of the dorsal fin. It inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers with gravel, cobble and boulder substrates, and is too fast and vigorous a feeder for the general community.

Barilius vagra is a cyprinid widely distributed in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems of northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Poorly known in the hobby but exported on occasion, it has 10 to 14 vertical bars on each flank that do not extend below the lateral line. It inhabits well-oxygenated, fast-flowing rivers and tributaries with gravel, cobble and boulder substrates, and its speed and vigorous feeding make it unsuitable for the general community.