NEW DESCRIPTION
Zoos' PRINT JOURNAL 21(4):2211-2216

Manuscript 1386; Received 29 June 2005; Revised received 04 January 2006; Finally accepted 07 March 2006;
Date of publication 21 March 2006 April 2006 | ISSN 0973-2535 (Print edition); 0973-2551 (Online edition)

ABSTRACT

Schistura nagodiensis and S. sharavathiensis are the new fish species described from Sharavathi river, central Western Ghats. These species are distinct from their closest congeners in Schistura, which are evident from variations in the combination of characters such as processus dentiformis, barbels, bars on body, extent of lateral line with pores, marks on lower lip, ray counts, shape of caudal fin, caudal bar, adipose crest, etc. Distinct clusters of Principal Components based on morphometric variables (PCA) further substantiate that these are significantly different from their closest congeners.

Keywords : Nemacheiline fishes, new descriptions, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Schistura nagodiensis, S. sharavathiensis Sharavathi river, Western Ghats.

Abbreviations : CES - Centre for Ecological Sciences; IISc - Indian Institute of Science; ZSI - Zoological Survey of India; SRS - Southern Regional Station; WGBIS - Western Ghats Biodiversity Information System; SL - Standard length.