Sunday, February 5, 2012

[Ichthyology • 2008] Puntius kelumi • a new species of cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Sri Lanka


Puntius kelumi 
Pethiyagoda, Anjana Silva, Maduwage & Meegaskumbura, 2008


Puntius kelumi, new species, is described from south-western Sri Lanka. It is distinguished from all other Sri Lankan and Peninsular-Indian Puntius by having the last unbranched dorsal-fin ray smooth; body depth 28.6-35.5 % of SL; rostral barbels absent; maxillary barbels present, about as long as eye diameter; 20-23 lateral-line scales on body; .... scales in transverse line from mid-dorsum to pelvic-fin origin; and sides of head and body of breeding males rough, extensively tuberculated. Puntius layardi Günther is apparently a valid species from Sri Lanka, but has not been observed in the wild since 1868. Leuciscus binotatus Blyth, its replacement name Barbus tetraspilus Günther, and its junior objective synonym B. innominatus Day, remain species inquirendae.



Pethiyagoda R., A. Silva, K. Maduwage & M. Meegaskumbura. 2008. Puntius kelumi, a new species of cyprinid fish from Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters. 19(3), 201-214. http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/pdf/ief19_3_02.pdf

2008: A promising year for Sri Lanka's freshwater fish