Cauvery

A. sinuata is currently considered a synonym of A. mooreh by most authorities. This appears attributable to a lack of recent study since the two differ in distribution plu...

This species is traded very occasionally, sometimes under the alternative vernacular names of 'river baril, 'river carp-baril', or 'striated hill trout'. It can be told apart from congeners by the following combination of characters: 1 pair of minute rostra...

The fish appearing in the majority of earlier literature as P. arulius or 'arulius barb', and often still traded as such, is the related D. tambraparniei. Though similar the latter can be told apart from D. arulius by possession of filamentous extensions to the dorsal-fin rays in males, longer maxillary barbels measuring > ½ eye diameter, i.e., 2.4 - 4.7 % SL, and some aspects of colour pattern.

This species may have appeared in the aquarium trade under the misapplied names Puntius arulius or P. tambraparniei in the past, both of which are also now classified within Dawkinsia. See the relevant profiles for D. arulius and D. tambraparniei for additional information regarding that confusion, since here we concentrate on D. rubrotinctus. It was initially described by Jerdon in 1849 but placed in synonymy with P. arulius by Day (1878), where it remained for ov...

This species is frequently confused with the congener D. aequipinnatus auct. but their identitities are in a state of confusion, particularly that of the latter. There are however a handful of characters which separate these two nominal species from one another. D. malabaricus possesses a moderately deep body, 35-38 scales in the lateral se...

Wild examples are rarely-seen in the aquarium hobby although selectively-bred ornamental strains are widely-available for which care is identical. These are normally traded as 'red' or 'yellow' chromide and have a solid yellow-orange colour pattern with no dark elements. It exhibits a widespread sympatry with the con...

This species is available sporadically and makes an excellent choice for those new to keeping loaches. It's distinguishable from congeners by a combination of characters including: truncate/rounded caudal-fin; no scales on top of head; dark, squarish spots o...

Type locality is 'Netravati River, Dharmasthala, Karnataka State, India', with the species subsequently recorded from the Kabini (aka Kabani) River basin and it may be endemic to these two drainages. While the Netraviti flows through Karnataka in its entirety before emptying into the Arabian Sea just south of the city of Mangalore, th...

This species continues to be mislabelled as O. melastigma, a name currently considered invalid by the majority of recent workers, or O. javanicus, a valid but distinct taxon. Roberts (1998) demonstrated that MClelland's description of Aplocheilus melastigmus, later renamed O. melastigma, does not correspond with any known Oryzias species from the Indian subcontinent or Myanmar since it's said to have a dark spot in the dorsal-fin and an excessively slim body, among other anomalies.

This species is still considered a member of the genus Nemacheilus by some sources, but it was reclassified and placed in Acanthocobitis by Grant (2008). Acanthocobitis sinuata, generally considered a junior synonym of A. mooreh (Kottelat, 2012b), also appears distinct and differs in geographical distribution plus number of dorsal-fin rays (2-3/9-10 in A. mooreh vs. 2/8-9 in A. sinuata) and some aspects of colour pattern.

This species is widely referred to and traded as the congener 'Puntius' narayani (Hora, 1937). The precise identity of the latter is in doubt, however, plus P. setnai possesses a serrated dorsal-fin spine whereas 'P.' It was formerly included in the Puntius conchonius 'group' of closely-related species alongside P. ater, P. bandula, P. conchonius, P. cumingii, P. erythromycter,...

Apparently most abundant in shallow streams and minor tributaries, sometimes at relatively high altitudes, and apparently shows a preference for substrates of mud or silt. Given the extent of its range it would seem sensible to assume that it inhabits various habitat-types which also vary in water depth, flow, and turbidity depending on the time of year.

This species is most easily told apart from its only congener P. dayi by lacking (vs. possessing) two dark, irregular lateral stripes on the head and body, and a shorter caudal-fin in males. The results of phylogenetic analyses by Rüber et al. (2006) suggest that Pseudosphromenus is most closely-related to Malpulutta in an evolutionary sense.

Generally very peaceful making it an ideal resident of the well-researched community tank. As it places no special demands in terms of water chemistry it can be combined with many of the most popular fish in the hobby including other small cyprinids as well as tetras, livebearers, rainbowfishes, anabantoids, catfishes and loaches. It's a schooling species by nature, and at least 6-10 specimens should be purchased. Maintaining it in such...

This species has a chaotic taxonomic history with certain issues still to be resolved. While the name P. mahecola was misapplied to members of the genus Dawkinsia for over a century the fish itself has been widely misidentified as the congener P. amphibius (Valenciennes 1842). Its identity was partially resolved by Pethiyagoda and Kottelat (2005b) who demonstrated that though valid P. mahecola is not a Dawkinsia spp. but rather a smaller, relatively plain species with a single dark blotc...

This species is feisty and largely unsuitable for the general community aquarium. This is not to say it must be kept alone, rather that tankmates must be selected with care and proper research. Slow-moving or long-finned species should certainly be omitted because they're likely to struggle with the necessary level of water movement and may end up with nipped fins.

This species is not a well-known aquarium fish but is maintained by a number of Indian enthusiasts. It can be told apart from related species by the following combination of characters as per Sreekantha et al. (2006): pectoral-fin rays 10; absence of black spot at base of dorsal-fin; presence of rows of spots on caudal-fin; lateral line incomplete; caudal-fin slightly emarginate; 11-14 vertical bars on the body.

This species is clearly unsuitable for the home aquarium given its eventual size and natural behaviour, and we know of only a handful of private aquarists with the facilities required to house it long-term. The grouping currently contains four species but is in urgent need of review with a number of additional taxa thought to exist and B. yarrelli possibly representing a synonym of B. bagarius.

This species is euryhaline and mostly inhabits brackish estuaries, coastal lagoons and the lower reaches of rivers. It also occurs in freshwater habitats, however, including a number of inland lakes in Sri Lanka although it appears to have been introduced intentionally.

Confirmed localities include the Kabini, Bhadra and Moyar tributary systems where it was last collected in 1998, the 1980s and 1990-92, respectively. The IUCN currently list it as Critically Endangered (possibly extinct).

This species is also referred to as 'Asian knifefish' or 'ghost knifefish' in the aquarium trade in the aquarium trade but arguably has no place in the ornamental hobby given its adult size and specialised requirements. It is sometimes confused with the African species Xenomystus nigri but is easily told apart by its larger adult size and presence (vs. absence) of a dorsal fin.

This species has not yet entered the aquarium trade but is maintained by a handful of private collectors. Though described in 2012 it was in fact first collected in the latter half of the 19th century with Day (1875-1878) having mentioned the presence of Badis dario in ‘Wynaad’ and its occurrence "along the Western Ghats" (the chain of mountains in southwestern India).

This species is endemic to and widespread within peninsular India, where it has been recorded from the states of Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is thus found in numerous river systems of which some of the most important include the Tapti, Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery.

Following Roberts (1997) G. ariza can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: body with variably intense thin stripes dustributed mostly above the lateral line; larger individuals sometimes with a broad midlateral stripe; 32-35 lateral scales; 7-8/1/5-6 transverse scale rows; 8-9 branched dorsal-fin rays 8-9; 22-24+ 11-12=34(4), 35 (3) vertebrae; live colour pattern variable, overall dull dirty white to greyish, silvery or yellow.