The bandula barb (''Pethia bandula'') is a species of

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest ver ...

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 else ...

to Sri Lanka where it is only known from near Galapitamada in the

Warakapola Divisional Secretariat Warakapola Divisional Secretariat is a Divisional Secretariat of Kegalle District Kegalle is a district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. ...

. As this critically endangered species only was known from a single unprotected site where the population consists of an estimated 1,000 individuals, a second "

insurance population Translocation in wildlife conservation is the capture, transport and release or introduction of species, habitats or other ecological material (such as soil) from one location to another. It contrasts with reintroduction, a term which is gener ...

" was established in 2014 by a team of IUCN scientists in cooperation with Sri Lanka's Forest Department, the

Department of Wildlife Conservation The Department of Wildlife Conservation ( Sinhala: වනජීවී සංරක්‍ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ''Vanajivi Sanrakshana Departhamenthuwa'') is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka. It is th ...

and local communities. On 24 December 2018, National Geographic reported that the bandula barb was the 9,000th animal photographed for ''

The Photo Ark ''The Photo Ark'' is a ''National Geographic'' project, led by photographer Joel Sartore, with the goal of photographing all species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries around the globe in order to inspire action to save wildlife. The project ...

'' by Joel Sartore.

References

Pethia Barbs (fish) Fish described in 1991 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Barbinae-stub