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| Humpback mahseer | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Hypselobarbus |
| Species: | H. mussullah |
| Binomial name | |
| Hypselobarbus mussullah (Sykes, 1839) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The humpback mahseer (Hypselobarbus mussullah) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the Indian endemic genus Hypselobarbus in the carp and minnow family Cyprinidae.
The humpback mahseeris a large cyprinid that has a laterally compressed body which is just over a quarter as deep as it is long (standard length). [2] with a steep dorsal profile forming an obvious hump which runs to the base of the dorsal fin and then slopes gently away to the caudal fin. It has a narrow, thick lipped mouth which is downward facing with two pairs of short barbels behind the mouth. [3] One pair is rostral and one pair is maxillary and this is one of the features that distinguishes it from otherwise similar species. [4] The dorsal fin origin is just in front of the origin of the pelvic fins [2] and the dorsal fin is concave on its uppermargin, with a strong, smooth and stiff spine [3] The caudal fin is deeply forked with small tuberclues on the rays. [2] The overall colour is brown with a paler abdomen and it may have dark tips to the fins. [3] It can grow to a maximum total length of 150 cm and a weight of 90 kg. [4] However, the rod and reel caught record fish was roughly 59 kg and measured 169 cm in length while a fish caught by other means was 93 kg and 183 cm. [5]
The fish was originally described by Sykes [6] as having "a remarkable projecting prominence between the upper lip and nostrils, giving to the fish the appearance of being Roman-nosed." Among the meristic features he described are: pectoral fin 16 rays; ventral 9 rays; dorsal 12 rays including first branched; anal fin 8 rays.
In the 2013 paper On the identities of Barbus mussulah by Knight et al., [7] which has been instrumental in clearing confusions between Hypselobarbus mussulah and Tor remadevii, the lateral line scale count is shown as 42, which clearly demonstrates this fish is not a mahseer (member of genus Tor).
The humpback mahseer is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India. [1] It has been recorded from the Krishna and possibly the Godavari in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala. It occurs in isolated pockets [3] and the species' distribution is extremely fragmented and the total area of the species range is probably less than 500 km2. [1]
The humpback mahseer shows a preference for the deeper stretches of clear, fast flowing large jungle streams and rivers in upland areas. [1] It has an omnivorous diet and feeds on fish, crustaceans, molluscs, frogs, fruits and algae.
The humpback mahseer is a sought after fish for anglers from the British colonial times to the present although the actual species involved was not determined as the original description of Barbus mussulah was not considered definitive. The species was redescribed as Hypselobarbus mussullah in the 1990s and 2016 and the species is the type specimen of the genus Hypselobarbus. When this species was classified under Tor mussulah, it was considered synonymous with the orange-finned mahseer (Tor remadevii), a highly endangered species endemic to the Kaveri basin, unlike the humpback which is endemic to the Krishna basin. When the humpback was reclassified to Hypselobarbus, the orange-finned mahseer was split from it for this reason. [8]
Tor is a genus of cyprinid fish commonly known as mahseers.
Mahseer is the common name used for the genera Tor, Neolissochilus, Naziritor and Parator in the family Cyprinidae (carps). The name is, however, more often restricted to members of the genus Tor. The range of these fish is from Vietnam in the east and China in the north, through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, and across southern Asia including the countries of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh within the Indian Peninsula, plus Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are commercially important game fish, as well as highly esteemed food fish. Mahseer fetch high market price, and are potential candidate species for aquaculture. Several of the larger species have suffered severe declines, and are now considered threatened due to pollution, habitat loss, overfishing and increasing concern about the impacts of unregulated release of artificially bred stock of a very limited number of species.
The tinfoil barb is a tropical Southeast Asian freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae. This species was originally described as Barbus schwanenfeldii by Pieter Bleeker in 1853, and has also been placed in the genera Barbodes and Puntius. The specific epithet is frequently misspelled schwanefeldii.
The clipper barb or Congo barb is a freshwater and brackish tropical fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). Its native habitat is from Côte d'Ivoire through the Chad Basin to Nigeria and Cameroon. It was originally described as Barbus callipterus by Boulenger in 1907.
The porae, the grey morwong, blue morwong, butterfish, Douglas' morwong, Eastern blue morwong, great perch, queen snapper, rubberlip morwong or silver morwong, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. found around south eastern Australia and the north eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand at depths of about 10 to 100 metres, on sandy and rocky coasts.
Tor khudree, the Deccan mahseer, Khudree mahseer, or black mahseer, is a freshwater fish of the carp family found in major rivers and reservoirs of India and Sri Lanka. Found throughout India, following large-scale introductions of artificially-bred fish across the country, but found of the largest size and in the greatest abundance in mountain or rocky streams.
The fish as originally described by Sykes in his November 1838 paper 'On the Fishes of the Dukhun' as Barbus khudree, is a silvery-bluish coloured fish, with blood red fins or fins tipped with a bluish tinge. The type locality is the Mula-Mutha River close to the Indian city of Pune, a part of the Krishna River basin.
Although there have been efforts to artificially breed this mahseer since the early1970's, there is no way to determine if these fish are Tor khudree, as the populations within the type locality have gone extinct.
Luciobarbus graecus is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is here placed in Luciobarbus following the IUCN, but that genus is very closely related to the other typical barbels and perhaps better considered a mere subgenus of Barbus. Found in and adjacent to Greece, its closest living relative seems to be L. lydianus, which is found in the northwest of Asia Minor.
The Italian barbel is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, nearly related to the common barbel Barbus barbus.
Labeo lankae is a species of cyprinid fish. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.
Pseudexostoma is a genus of fish in the family Sisoridae endemic to China. These species are restricted to the upper Salween and one upper branch of the Irrawaddy in China. P. brachysoma is known only from the middle and lower Nujiang River. P. yunnanensis is only known from the upper Dayinjiang. These rivers were once connected, but are now separated. Also, the environment and temperature of the Nujiang River became greatly different between the northern and southern areas, leading to speciation.
Enteromius bagbwensis is a species of freshwater benthopelagic ray-finned fish in the genus Enteromius it is endemic to the Bagbwe River in Sierra Leone. The current maximum length is a 9.6 cm male.
Hypselobarbus is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to India.
The Ohrid spirlin is a fish species of family Cyprinidae. This species is endemic to Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia and Albania in the Balkans. It is a benthopelagic temperate freshwater fish, up to 9 cm in length. It was originally named as a subspecies of Alburnoides bipunctatus. It is threatened by non-indigenous species of fish, many of which have been introduced into Lake Ohrid.
The painted sweetlips, also known as the Australian slatey, blackall, bluey, grey sweetlips, moke, morwong, mother-in-law fish, painted blubber-lips, slate bream, slate sweetlips, smokey bream, thicklip or yellowdot sweetlips is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sweetlips belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region.
Tor douronensis, also known as Labeobarbus douronensis, is a species of ray-finned fish of the family Cyprinidae in the genus Tor. This Asian fresh water river carp can be discovered in southern Thailand, east to Vietnam and south to Indonesia. The species is known from the Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers.
This fish has been attributed to Valenciennes however, in his original notes, he claims that the fish he described "formed part of the collection made in Java by Kuhl and Van Hesselt; they named it Dourr." Certainly, the type locality is Java, in Indonesia and the holotype is lodged at Bogor Zoology Museum.
Squalius malacitanus, commonly known as the Malaga chub, is a species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It was first isolated from the Guadalmina River in Málaga, hence its name. It is considered a vulnerable species. S. malacitanus differs from its cogenerate species by having 7–8 branched rays in its dorsal fin, 8 branched rays in the anal lateral line; the number of scale rows above its lateral line; possessing 3 scale rows below its lateral line; 38 vertebrae, 21 abdominal, and 17 caudal; large fourth and fifth infraorbital bones; maxilla without a pointed anterior process; the middle of its frontal bone being narrow, as well as its neurocranium bone; the lower branch of its pharyngeal bone is rather long; and the shortness of the inferior lamina of its urohyal bone.
Prof. (Dr.) B. Madhusoodana Kurup, an internationally renowned fisheries researcher, academician, visionary and administrator, is the Founder Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Cochin and also served as the third Vice Chancellor of Shri Venkateshwara University, Gajraula, Uttar Pradesh. He has established and successfully developed the first Fisheries and Ocean Sciences University in the country. He did his postdoc from Fish Culture and Fisheries division, Wagenengen University, The Netherlands. He served as UGC Professor (Fisheries) at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) for over eighteen years.
Tor remadevii, the orange-finned mahseer, also known as the hump-backed mahseer, is a critically endangered species of freshwater fish endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is restricted to the Kaveri river basin.
Labeo heladiva, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. Earlier considered as the same species as Labeo dussumieri in India, recent phylogenetic and physiological differences suggest that Sri Lankan population is a distinct species.
Tor malabaricus, the Malabar mahseer, is a fish, a species of mahseer native to southwestern India.
