Rita (fish)

Rita Temporal range: 5.3–0  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Lower Pliocene to Recent
Rita rita
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Bagridae
Genus:	Rita Bleeker, 1853
Type species
Pimelodus rita Hamilton, 1822

Rita is a genus of fish in the family Bagridae found in South Asia. These species have a single pair of mandibular barbels, an elongated Weberian apparatus firmly sutured to the basioccipital and the sensory canal on the posttemporal enclosed with bone. ^[1]

Species

There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus:

• Rita bakalu K. K. Lal, Dwivedi & R. K. Singh, 2016 ^[2]
• Rita chrysea F. Day, 1877
• Rita gogra (Sykes, 1839)
• Rita kuturnee (Sykes, 1839)
• Rita macracanthus H. H. Ng, 2004
• Rita rita (F. Hamilton, 1822)
• Rita sacerdotum J. Anderson, 1879

In addition, the fossil species Rita grandiscutata is known from the Early Pliocene-aged sediments in the Siwalik Hills of Punjab. ^[3]

References

1. Ng, H.H. (2004): Rita macracanthus, a new riverine catfish (Teleostei: Bagridae) from South Asia. Zootaxa, 568: 1–12.
2. Lal, K.K., Dwivedi, A.K., Singh, R.K., Mohindra, V., Chandra, S., Gupta, B.K., Dhawan, S. & Jena, J. (2016): A new bagrid catfish species, Rita bakalu (Siluriformes: Bagridae), from the Godavari River basin, India. Hydrobiologia, 790 (1): 67–81.
3. Ferraris, Carl J. (2007-03-08). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418 (1): 1–628. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1. ISSN   1175-5334.