''Barbodes zakariaismaili'', or Zakaria's barb, is a newly described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a Family (biology), family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barb (fish), barbs and barbel (fish), barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

as of 2021. The species is native to Malaysia, where it is found in foothills and lowland streams with clear water in the southern Malay Peninsula. The species has very little to no significant commercial value. Previously thought to be a variant of ''

Barbodes banksi ''Barbodes'' is a genus of small to medium-sized cyprinid fish native to tropical Asia. The majority of the species are from Southeast Asia. Many species are threatened and some from the Philippines (Lake Lanao) are already extinct. A survey carr ...

'', it and '' Barbodes sellifer'' were removed from ''B. banksi'' due to its unique color pattern in adulthood and morphological differences.

Etymology

This species is named in honour of Mohd. Zakaria-Ismail, an expert in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

's fish fauna.

Description

Similar to ''

Barbodes binotatus ''Barbodes binotatus'', commonly known as the spotted barb or common barb, is a tropical species of cyprinid fish endemic to Java, Indonesia. Description Its color in life varies from a silvery gray to greenish gray, darker dorsally and paler o ...

'', the overall body coloration is dark yellowish brown, while the back of the fish is darker, and its underside is pale with a yellowish hue. The feature that distinguishes the species is the triangular black mark below the dorsal fin that stretches to the lateral line, this trait is similar to ''B. sellifer'', but the mark is less broad and less rectangular then ''B. sellifer'', the adults of ''B. zakariaismaili'' also sport an additional faint blackish lateral mark running along the lateral line from the gill opening to below the dorsal-fin, a black spot at the base of the caudal fin, an extended and pointed snout, and smaller eyes then ''B. sellifer''.

Distribution

The species has a very small distribution, possibly only present in state of

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

as no other confirm catch records outside of its range have been made as of yet.

Habitat

It prefers slow-moving clearwater forest streams or pools.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116484155 zakariaismaili Fish described in 2021 Freshwater fish of Malaysia