Researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, have discovered three new species of Filament barbs, known under the genus Dawkinsia in the Western Ghats.
- Filament barbs are a group of small freshwater fishes found in the rivers of peninsular India and Sri Lanka, where nine species are known under the genus Dawkinsia.
- They are popular among aquarium hobbyists and are wild-collected and captive-bred for trade.
- The research also helped to stabilise the identity of Dawkinsia assimilis and Dawkinsia lepida, the species of filament barbs described by British ichthyologists in the 1800s.
- The scientific paper presenting these discoveries was published in the international journal Vertebrate Zoology.
Source: The Hindu
