''Conta'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of South Asian river catfishes native to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

Description

''Conta'' can be distinguished from all other erethistids by the presence of a very long and narrow adhesive apparatus on its thorax about six times as it is long. It also has extremely narrow

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

openings, a slender body, a

serrated Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied ...

anterior margin on the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

spine, a

papilla Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * Dental papilla, in a developing tooth * Dermal papillae, part of ...

te upper lip, and 9–10

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

rays. The eyes are small and located dorsolaterally. There is villiform (brush-like) teeth in both jaws. The

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

spine is serrated anteriorly and posteriorly. ''

Conta pectinata ''Conta pectinata'' is a species of South Asian river catfish endemic to India where it occurs the Brahmaputra River drainage of Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra a ...

'' differs from ''

Conta conta ''Conta conta'', the Conta catfish, is a species of South Asian river catfish. This species grows to a length of TL. Distribution and habitat ''C. conta'' is distributed in the Ganges and Brahmaputra drainages, India and Bangladesh. ''C. con ...

'' in that it has a longer and more slender

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

and in having anteriorly-directed

serration Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied ...

s (instead of antrorse or distally-directed serrations) the anterior edge of the pectoral fin spine.

References

Erethistidae Fish of South Asia Catfish genera Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Sunder Lal Hora {{catfish-stub