''Poropuntius consternans'' 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 genus ''

Poropuntius ''Poropuntius'' is a genus of cyprinid fish found mainly in freshwater habitats of Southeast Asia and Yunnan in China, but ''P. burtoni'' is from South Asia. Several species have highly restricted ranges and are threatened, and a single ''P. spel ...

'' which 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 ...

to the eastern half of the

Bolovens Plateau The Bolaven Plateau is an elevated region in southern Laos. Most of the plateau is located within Champasak Province of Laos, though the edges of the plateau are also located in Salavan, Sekong and Attapeu Provinces. It is located between ...

in southern Laos. Its numbers are thought to be decreasing due to heavy fishing pressure, but the biggest threat to this species are the planned dams, Xe, Pian-Xe and Namnoy, which are to be built within the next few years and which are likely to have a significant impact on this species. In addition, there is continuing decline in the quality as the surrounding land is converted to agriculture. The

IUCN 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 ...

assess ''Poropuntius consternans'' as Endangered. It is one of four ''

'' species endemic to the Bolovens Plateau, three of which were treated as trophic morphs of '' P. bolovenensis'' by

Tyson R. Roberts Tyson Royal Roberts is an American ichthyologist. He has been described as "the world's foremost authority on ''Regalecus''". Roberts attended Stanford University, where he earned his B.A. in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1968. His doctoral thesis was tit ...

but more recently

Maurice Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandCo ...

has determined that these are separate species, as the specialisation is present in juveniles which mean it is genetically determined, Kottelat also described a fourth species. ''P. consternans'' is Roberts' ''acuticeps'' morph.

References

consternans Fish described in 2000 {{Cyprininae-stub