The Denison barb, Denison's barb, Miss Kerala, red-line torpedo barb, or roseline shark (''Sahyadria denisonii'') is an endangered

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 verte ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

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 fast-flowing hill streams and rivers of the Western Ghats in India. It is commonly seen in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade; pet collection caused it to become endangered and is its single major threat.Seriously Fish:
Sahyadria denisonii.
' Retrieved 26 June 2014.

Physical characteristics

The fish is characterized by a torpedo-shaped body with silver scales, a red line running from their snout, through the eye, back towards the middle of the body; and below the red line, a black line that runs the length of the fish to the tail. As they mature, a distinctive green/blue marking on top of the head develops. This species reputedly reaches a length of TL, but typically will only reach . They are active shoaling fishes. The species was described by

Francis Day Francis Talbot Day (2 March 1829 – 10 July 1889) was an army surgeon and naturalist in the Madras Presidency who later became the Inspector-General of Fisheries in India and Burma. A pioneer ichthyologist, he described more than three hund ...

and named after Sir

William Denison Sir William Thomas Denison (3 May 1804 – 19 January 1871) was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 1855 to 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866. According to Percival Se ...

Habitat and threats

Denison barb is endemic to the

Achenkovil Achankovil is a 128 km long west flowing river in Kerala, India, which flows through Kollam, Pathanamthitta, and Alappuzha districts. The river drains vast tract of fertile plains of Upper Kuttanad in the Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts ...

, Pamba and

Chaliyar Chaliyar River is the fourth longest river in Kerala at 169 km in length. The Chaliyar is also known as Chulika River, Nilambur River or Beypore River as it nears the sea. Pothukal, Chungathara, Nilambur, Mampad, Edavanna, Kavanoor, Pera ...

rivers. Specifically, they are found in four locations — Cheenkannipuzha (a major tributary of Valapattanam River), the Achankovil river, the Chaliyar river and near

Mundakayam Mundakayam, is a town in Kanjirappally Taluk in the Kottayam District of Kerala. It is the doorway to the high ranges of southern Kerala, and is at the border of Kottayam and Idukki districts. The next nearest town, Kanjirappally, is & Erumel ...

town. The

has an estimated range of . ''S. denisonii'' is a

benthopelagic The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

species that is gregarious and

shoals In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

are known to occur in rocky pools with thick vegetation along their banks. They thrive in a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

climate in water with a 6.8–7.8 pH, a water hardness of 5–25 dGH and a temperature range of . As reported by

Practical Fishkeeping ''Practical Fishkeeping'' (also known as ''PFK'') is a United Kingdom-based aquarium magazine. It is published every four weeks by Warners Publications Plc. The title covers the entire aquatic market from tropical freshwater and tropical marin ...

in January 2009, new research by team of scientists from India suggests that the species is being

over-exploited Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

for the aquarium trade, potentially placing it at risk of extinction. In spite of being listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

by local assessment reports the fish had been promoted as an 'export item' by several government agencies. The population structure, age, growth, mortality and harvest intensity in the Valapattanam River was studied and suggests that the species is being over-exploited. The fish was most likely collected and exported out of India in 1996. In 1997, it won the third prize at 'Aquarama 1997' (world exhibition on Ornamental fish) under the 'New Species Category'. By 2007-08 it constituted about 60- 65% of the total live ornamental fish exported from India which was worth US$1.54 million. Though the Government of Kerala banned the fishing and export of the endangered barb, it is yet to be listed under the National Wildlife Protection Act. The golden form of this Denison barb is extinct from the wild but few Aquarium hobbyists have it in their collection.

In the aquarium

This fish is a relatively new addition to the fish keeping hobby. The Denison's barb is a schooling fish that is usually kept in groups. It tends to be peaceful but some have been known to be slightly aggressive around food, especially if kept in less space than they require. They eat bloodworms,

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

, meat, fish flake and some vegetation. A similar fish, ''

Sahyadria chalakkudiensis ''Sahyadria chalakkudiensis'' is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to the Chalakkudy River, Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the s ...

'' is sometimes confused with this fish, but it is a larger, less colourful and a more aggressive species.

Breeding

Over the years many efforts have been made to breed this rapidly depleting species in captivity, initially with limited success. In 2009, success came from the work carried out at the Fisheries College, Kerala by Dr.T. V. Anna Mercy. Breeding efforts have also been carried out by

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is operate ...

and two amateur fish-lovers from

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(India), Venkatesh and Murali. These efforts may pave the way for standardizing the process and would be a major boost to conservation and the ornamental fish trade in India. Large numbers are now being bred in captivity at commercial facilities.T. V. Anna Mercy, S. Sajan, V. Malika (2015
Captive breeding and developmental biology of Sahyadria denisonii (Day 1865) (Cyprinidae), an endangered fish of the Western Ghats, India.
Indian Journal of Fisheries 62(2).

References

External links

Puntius denisonii breeding - Photos of Puntius denisonii’s epic journey from egg to hatchling, from www.fishesninverts.comPhotos at FishbaseMadan Subramanian at Bangalore, India
* Threatened freshwater fish fall through net of mismanaged aquarium pet trade (

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 ...