''Indoreonectes evezardi'' is a species of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

in the family

Nemacheilidae The Nemacheilidae, or stone loaches, are a family of cypriniform fishes that inhabit stream environments, mostly in Eurasia, with one genus, ''Afronemacheilus'' found in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populo ...

. Earlier it was known as ''Nemacheilus evezardi'' described by Day (1878) captured from a river stream near

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, found in the Western Ghats and the

Satpuras The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and th ...

. Most populations are found in normal streams, but two distinct cave-adapted forms exist in

Kotumsar Cave Kotumsar cave is a limestone cave located near Jagdalpur in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Kotumsar cave is a major attraction for people interested in ecotourism. It was initially named Gopansar cave (Gopan = hidden) but the present name Kot ...

Etymology

The fish is named in honor of Col. George C. Evezard (1826-1901), of the Bombay Staff Corps, who helped in procuring the type specimen.http://www.etyfish.com

Divergence of cave populations

Due to lack of light and limited source of energy input (food) the cave populations of ''Indoreonectes evezardi'' are either found in albinic form with very regressed eyes or with very limited pigmentation and small eyes while compared to its epigean counterparts. Due to subterranean mode of life the complete physiological activities of the cave forms get limited and/or altere

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271508541_Constructive_evolution_phylogenetic_age_related_visual_sensibility_in_the_hypogean_fish_on_Kotumsar_Cave?ev=prf_pub].

IUCN status

Though in

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, this particular species is designated in

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

(LR/lc)category, but it could not be ruled out that special attention is required to protect the cave forms of ''Indoreonectes evezardi''.

References

Biswas J. 1991
Metabolic efficiency and regulation of body weight: a comparison between life in hypogean and epigean ecosystems
Biswas J. 1993
Constructive evolution: phylogenetic age related visual sensibility in the hypogean fish on Kotumsar Cave *
Biswas J. 2010
Kotumsar Cave biodiversity: a review of cavernicoles and their troglobiotic traits Nemacheilidae Fish of India Fish of Asia Cave fish Taxa named by Francis Day Fish described in 1872 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Nemacheilidae-stub