''Batasio travancoria'', the Travancore batasio, is a species of freshwater fish endemic to southern

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It was described from a tributary of

Pamba River The Pamba River (also called Pampa River) is the longest river in the Indian state of Kerala after Periyar (river), Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile former princely state of Travancore. The Sabarimala Temple, d ...

in Kerala state of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, known as Peruthenaruvi. The species is dependent on high habitat quality and does not tolerate organic wastes in the water. It is classified as a vulnerable species by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

) local name of the fish which is batasio or batashi.

Description

The fish grows up to 100 mm in length. A species of Batasio having a short adipose dorsal fin, separated from caudal fin by a distinct space; body depth 4.8–5.5 in standard length; a longitudinal narrow dark streak along lateral line. It has a large sensory pores on its head and narrow jaw region. A pair of posteriorly directed processes on the anterior part of vomer, horizontally elongated pterygoid processes.

Distribution

The species is distributed primarily in Asia especially Western Ghats of Kerala, India. This species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India. Since its first description from river Pampa in Kerala, several researchers including Kurup et al. (2004) reported the species from Pamba, Achenkoil,

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...

Chalakudy Chalakudy () is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls ...

, Manimala and Neyyar rivers. Silas (1951) reported this species from

Anamalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala (Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wester ...

. Raghunathan collected this species from Coorg district,

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

in 1989.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6429434 Bagridae Freshwater fish of India Endemic fauna of India Fish described in 1941 Taxa named by Sunder Lal Hora