''Puntius khohi'' is a species of fish in the family

Cyprinidae 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 ...

Puntius ''Puntius'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia, as well as Taiwan. Many species formerly placed in ''Puntius'' have been moved to other genera such as ''Barbodes'', ''Daw ...

genus. The species has been discovered in 2004, named and described by Dobriyal, R. Singh, Uniyal, H. K. Joshi, Phurailatpam & Bisht, Gharwhal university in

Uttaranchal Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India in 2004. The study and paper on Puntius Khohi was published in the Journal of the Inland Fish Socitety the same year (2004). It was collected from a stream ''Sil Gad'' which originates from the western slopes of Kalondanda southeast of Lansdowne in the foothills of the Himalayas. The specific name 'kohi refers to the river in which the Sil Gad stream joins.

Distribution

''Puntius khohi'' is so for known only from Sil Gad stream it has its origin in the foothills of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

s. There is a good chance of finding them in Khoh River as Sil Gad stream joins the Khoh river at Uttarakhand's Pauri district.

Description

The holotype HNBGUCP/Zool - 2004A was Found on the Sil Gad stream in the high altitude area of uttharanchal, in India. Puntius khohi is different from the rest of the Puntius species by many features . Unique features of this fish are one black spot on the caudal peduncle close to the base of caudal fin, a little black spot is present behind the operculum, a black shade can be found behind the operculum, another black spot under the dorsal fin which extent to the base of caudal fin, compared to other species the body depth is less than the head length which is the reverse in other species, dorsal fin is located close to the snout than the base of caudal fin, lateral line is complete and is little concave in nature, and a light color band is found above to the lateral line paralleled.

color

Live fish is colored silvery with black markings on the lateral line scales and the lateral line is complete and is little concave with 28 scales and a light band above the lateral line. black markings are present in caudal peduncle, operculum and dorsal fin is black in shade.

Threat

Biodiversity of the river in which ''P.khohi'' is present is threatened by

illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...

using poison.

Distribution

Description

color

Threat

References

Further reading