The Travancore yellow barb (''Puntius nelsoni'') is a species of fish in the family

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

. The species was discovered in 2011, and was subsequently named and described by Mathews Plamoottil from the Baby John Memorial Government College,

Chavara Chavara is a village in Karunagappally taluk, Kollam district, Kerala, India. It is a part of Kollam Lok Sabha constituency. Location and tourism Chavara is situated on the shores of the Arabian Sea and the major freshwater lake in Kerala ...

, Kollam,

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 ...

in 2014 in the ''International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies''. It was collected from the Kallumkala region of

Manimala River Manimala River, or Manimalayar, is a 92 km long river which flows through South and Central Kerala. The river used to be wrongly considered as a tributary of Pamba River before satellite maps became popular, but this was proved incorrect. ...

in Kerala, India ( Western Ghats). ''P. nelsoni'' is named after Nelson P. Abraham of St. Thomas College,

Kozhencherry Kozhencherry is a census town in Pathanamthitta district of South Central Kerala in Kerala state, India. census, the population was 12,021 of which 5,594 are males while 6,427 are females. Etymology The name ''Kozhencherry'' is believed to have ...

Distribution

The Travancore yellow barb has so far only been recorded from the

which has its origin in Muthavara Hills of the Western Ghats, at 762m (2500 feet) above main sea level. It may also be possible to find the Travancore yellow barb in the

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 ...

. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was collected in Kallumkal of the

Thiruvalla Thiruvalla, () also spelled Tiruvalla, is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of and has a population of 52,883 people, down from 56,837 in 2001. It is also the H ...

region, which is the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Manimala river and the Pamba River.

Description

The holotype ZSI/WGRC/IR/23 and 3

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

s ZSI/ WGRC/ IR/ 2354 were found in the Kallumkal region of Manimala River, near

, in the Pattanamthitta District on 21 August 2011. ''P. nelsoni'' can be distinguished from the rest of the species in its

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

(''

Puntius ''Puntius'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia, as well as Taiwan. Many species formerly placed in ''Puntius'' have been moved to other genera such as ''Barbodes'', '' D ...

'') by the combination of uncommon characteristics such as the smaller

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

, the short, feeble maxillaries which do not reach the

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

nostril A nostril (or naris , : nares ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates ...

s placed halfway between the orbit and snout tip, the deeper head with a wider gape and the wide head. There are five and half scales between

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

and the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

, and the lateral line has 25–26 scales with three and half scales between

and

ventral fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hind ...

. The holotype had a total tail to snout length of 91 millimetres. In general, the body shows an elongated, laterally compressed form. The body and

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

s of the Travencore yellow barb are yellow, as in the name. At the summit of

occiput The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone lies over the occipital lobes of the ...

, there is a blue-green mark, and there are many fine black dots forming a thin band over the gills. The end of its

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is dusky in color, and the back of its head is a greenish-yellow colour.

Habitat

The Travencore yellow barb's

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

shows a

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

which is largely dominated by mud sediments with intermittent patches of bare sand among the mud.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q22285236 Puntius Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Freshwater fish of India Taxa named by Mathews Plamoottil Fish described in 2014