Garra nambashiensis: New Species Of Fresh Water Fish
Researchers recently discovered a new species of freshwater fish, Garra nambashiensis, in Manipur.
- Garra nambashiensis is a new species of freshwater fish which belongs to the Labeonine family.
- It was discovered in Taretlok, a tributary of the Chindwin River, near Nambashi Valley in Manipur’s Kamjong district.
- It was collected from “swift-flowing riffles (shallow sections of a river or stream) with algae-covered gravel beds and mixed substrate comprising cobbles, boulders, pebbles, sand, fine silt, and coarse sediments.
- The species features a quadrate-shaped proboscis, 7-8 acanthoid tubercles on the anterolateral margin, black spots on the opercle, 8-11 dorsal-fin scales, and six black stripes extending to the hypural plate.
- It typically measures 90-140 mm (9-14 cm), and locals call it Nutungnu.
- Currently, 60 species of Garra have been recorded from various river systems in the Northeast, encompassing the Eastern Himalayan and Indo-Burma regions.
- Of these, 32 are grouped in the ‘proboscis species group’ and occur in the Chindwin, Brahmaputra, Barak, and Kaladan river systems.
- Eight species have been recorded from the Chindwin river system alone, including the recently described G. chingaiensis.
