Meenachil

The green panchax, Aplocheilus blockii, is a small killifish from Sri Lanka and southern India, growing to around 45 mm SL. Euryhaline, it mostly inhabits lowland, often coastal, still or slow-moving brackish or fresh water with surface vegetation or overhanging cover, and is commonly found in mangrove swamps and rice paddies.

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.

The dadio, Laubuka dadiburjori, is a small cyprinid endemic to southern India, recorded from Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It has also been marketed as 'Burjor's brilliance', 'orange chela' and 'orange hatchetfish', and does not exceed 30 mm SL. A dark bluish stripe runs from the eye to the caudal peduncle, typically forming 2-5 round spots. There is a suggestion that it is not a direct relative of other Laubuka and may warrant its own genus.

The Malabar hatchet chela, Laubuka fasciata, is a cyprinid endemic to the state of Kerala in southwestern India. A dark stripe runs from the eye to the caudal peduncle, and it favours slow-moving, shallow margins of rivers and streams over rock and gravel. It is occasionally available in the aquarium trade, apparently collected only in small numbers, and is an accomplished jumper.

The orange chromide, Pseudetroplus maculatus, is a euryhaline cichlid native to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It mostly inhabits brackish estuaries, coastal lagoons and the lower reaches of rivers, and can be kept in fresh or brackish water so long as acidic conditions are avoided. Wild examples are rarely seen in the hobby, where selectively bred strains traded as 'red' or 'yellow' chromide are widely available.

The spiketail paradisefish, Pseudosphromenus cupanus, is a small labyrinth fish restricted to southern India and Sri Lanka. It lives in sluggish and still waters such as rice paddies, swamps and weedy ponds. It lacks the two dark lateral stripes of its only congener, P. dayi. A secretive bubble nester, it is peaceful but too small and timid for most community aquaria.

Puntius mahecola is a cyprinid from rivers draining much of the Western Ghats mountains in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states, southern India. The name was misapplied to members of Dawkinsia for over a century, while the fish itself was widely misidentified as P. amphibius. A relatively plain fish, it has a single dark blotch on the caudal peduncle behind the anal fin. D. assimilis and other Dawkinsia species appear on trade lists as 'mahecola barb'.

The freshwater needlefish, Xenentodon cancila, is a belonid from Pakistan east through India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Often called 'freshwater garfish', it only superficially resembles the true gars, and most of its relatives in the Belonidae are marine or estuarine. A near-exclusive inhabitant of the upper water column, it is surprisingly peaceful with anything too large to swallow and is best kept in numbers of four or more, in a tank of 180 ∗ 60 cm or more.

The Malabar snakehead, Channa diplogramma, is a large snakehead endemic to the southern Western Ghats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India. Treated as a synonym of the Indochinese C. micropeltes for over a century, it was revalidated in 2011 and has 103-105 lateral line scales, more than any other Channa. Its colour pattern changes markedly with age, and unlike most snakeheads it is pelagic and needs plenty of room to swim.

The green chromide, Etroplus suratensis, is a euryhaline cichlid from peninsular India and Sri Lanka, growing to 350 mm SL. It mostly inhabits brackish estuaries, coastal lagoons and lower river reaches. Not especially popular in the hobby, it is an important food fish, and some populations have crashed through over-exploitation. In Sri Lanka's Negombo Lagoon Pseudetroplus maculatus has been seen acting as its cleaner while also eating its eggs and fry.