The identity of Pethia punctata, a senior synonym of P. muvattupuzhaensis (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

Abstract

Francis Day described Pethia punctata from Cochin, on the Malabar (south western) coast of India. Although, the species is now recovered from its synonymy with P. ticto, an accurate diagnosis and description have been lacking. A redescription of P. punctata based on external morphology, osteology and genetics is provided, which revealed that P. muvattupuzhaensis, described from Muvattupuzha River, Ernakulam District, Kerala, India, is its junior synonym. Pethia punctata can be diagnosed from other known species in the genus by a combination of characters including lateral line complete, with 23-25 pored scales; 8 predorsal scales; ½4/1/3½ scales in transverse line; dorsal fin originating almost opposite to, or slightly before pelvic-fin origin; gill rakers 7 on first ceratobranchial; 4+26 total vertebrae; a small black humeral spot covering anterior half of the fourth scale of the row below the lateral-line row; two minute dark spots below the humeral spot; a prominent spot on the caudal peduncle, surrounded by a golden hoop covering scales 19-21 of the lateral-line row; and dorsal fin with 2-3 longitudinal rows of black spots, third row occupying only anterior portion of the fin.

Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater-fish genus Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

“…q DZ4059B, 32.3 mm SL, Bentara basin. r DZ4509B, 44.2 mm SL, Walawe basin The wet-zone species appear to comprise a monophyletic diversification, while P. melanomaculata seems more closely related to P. punctata, a South Indian species [27,30,31]. Additionally, the wet-zone species have unusual distributions.…”

Pethia sanjaymoluri, a new species of barb (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the northern Western Ghats, India

“…striata by having an incomplete lateral line ( v . complete) (Day, ; Hora, ; Chhapgar & Sane, ; Menon & Rema Devi, ; Katwate et al , 2013, 2014 a , b ; Atkore et al , ). From its remaining Western Ghats endemic congeners, with incomplete lateral line, P .…”

“…(Mercy & Jacob 2007), Pethia punctata (Day 1865), Pethia setnai (Chhapgar & Sane 1992), Pethia sharmai (Menon & Rema Devi 1993) and Pethia striata Atkore, Knight, Rema Devi & Krishnaswamy 2015. Pethia sanjaymoluri differs from P. lutea, P. narayani, P. punctata, P. setnai and P. striata by having an incomplete lateral line (v. complete) (Day, 1865;Hora, 1937;Chhapgar 2040 , 1992;Menon & Rema Devi, 1993;Katwate et al, 2013Katwate et al, , 2014aAtkore et al, 2015). From its remaining Western Ghats endemic congeners, with incomplete lateral line, P. sanjaymoluri differs based on characteristics listed in Table II.…”

“…Freshwater barbs of the genus Pethia Pethiyagoda, Meegaskumbura & Maduwage 2012 are endemic to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar (Pethiyagoda et al , ). Currently, the genus comprises 38 species occurring across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Myanmar (Pethiyagoda et al , ; Dishma & Vishwanath, ; Gurung et al , ; Knight, ; Kottelat, ; Katwate et al , 2014 a, b, c ; Atkore et al , ). In India, the genus is represented by 26 species, of which nine are endemic to the southern region of the peninsula.…”

“…In India, the genus is represented by 26 species, of which nine are endemic to the southern region of the peninsula. With the description of several new species, clarifications on the identity of species described in the 19th century and delimitation of species distributional ranges (Knight et al , ; Dishma & Vishwanath, ; Katwate et al , 2013, 2014 a , b , c , 2015; Knight, ; Lalramliana et al , ; Atkore et al , ; Batuwita et al , ), the genus has recently been of interest to fish taxonomists. It has been suggested that there could be several more undescribed species within this genus, especially in the northern part of the Western Ghats, from where relatively few studies are available (Dahanukar et al , ; Katwate et al , 2014 b , c ).…”