''Puntius'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of small

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

native to

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, as well as

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Many

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 ...

formerly placed in ''Puntius'' have been moved to other genera such as '' Barbodes'', ''

Dawkinsia ''Dawkinsia'' is a genus of cyprinid fishes from freshwater in South India and Sri Lanka. It was split off from genus ''Puntius'' in 2012. Etymology ''Dawkinsia'' is named after the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in recognition of his ...

'', ''

Desmopuntius ''Desmopuntius'' is a genus of small freshwater cyprinids native to Southeast Asia. They were formerly included in ''Puntius''. Etymology The name ''Desmopuntius'' is derived from the Greek language δεσμψτης ("desmotes") meaning 'priso ...

'', ''

Haludaria ''Haludaria'' is a genus of cyprinids native to freshwater habitats in the Western Ghats of India. Originally the genus was named ''Dravidia'' Pethiyagoda, Meegaskumbura & Maduwage, 2012 which is preoccupied by the dipteran genus ''Dravidia'' Le ...

'', ''

Oliotius The checker barb (''Oliotius oligolepis'')Kottelat, M. (2013)The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries. ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zool ...

'', '' Pethia'', ''

Puntigrus ''Puntigrus'' is a genus of cyprinids native to Southeast Asia. Etymology The name ''Puntigrus'' is derived from the first syllable of the cyprinid genus ''Puntius'' and "tigrus" (to allude to the Latin language, Latin ''"tigris"'' meaning "t ...

'', ''

Sahyadria ''Sahyadria'' is a genus of cyprinid fishes native to India where they are endemic to rivers and streams in the Western Ghats. They were formerly included in ''Puntius''. The largest ''Sahyadria'' measure total length. Etymology The name of ...

'' and ''

Systomus ''Systomus'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae native to tropical Asia.Kottelat, M. (2013)The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: A catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and e ...

''.Kottelat, M. (2013)
The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: A catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries.
''Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Suppl. No. 27: 1–663.''Pethiyagoda, R., Meegaskumbura, M. & Maduwage, K. (2012)
A synopsis of the South Asian fishes referred to ''Puntius'' (Pisces: Cyprinidae).
''Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23 (1): 69–95.''Raghavan, R., Philip, S., Ali, A. & Dahanukar, N. (2013)
''Sahyadria'', a new genus of barbs (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Western Ghats of India.
''Journal of Threatened Taxa, 5 (15): 4932–4938.''

Etymology

The name ''Puntius'' comes from ''Pungti'' (Pronounced ''Puti''), a

Bangla Bangla (Bengali: বাংলা) may refer to: *Bengali language, an eastern Indo-Aryan language *The endonym of Bengal, a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia *''Bangla-'', a prefix indicating Bangladesh Businesses and organ ...

term for small cyprinids.

Range

Fishes of the genus ''Puntius'' are found in

(west to Pakistan and south to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) and

, with a single species, '' P. snyderi'', in

. The greatest species richness is in India.

Description

The maximum size for an adult of this genus is , but most species reach and some species do not surpass . In appearance they may resemble miniature

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

and are sometimes brightly coloured or patterned.

Behavior

These fishes are omnivorous; their diet includes small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

matter. Breeding is by egg scattering and takes place close to the bottom, near or within areas of dense plant growth. They do not show parental care and adults may eat the young.

Taxonomy

Historically, many species of ''Puntius'' have been classified in several genera, including '' Barbus''. Despite the reclassifications, the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

remains the same in these – except in cases of

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones (equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definition, ...

ies – as ''Barbus'' and ''Puntius'' have the same

grammatical gender In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...

. The closest living relatives of the spotted barbs are the genus ''

Cyprinion ''Cyprinion'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. Species * '' Cyprinion acinaces'' Banister & M. A. Clarke, 1977 ** '' Cyprinion acinaces acinaces'' Banister & M. A. Clarke, 1977 ** '' Cyprinion acinaces hijazi'' Krupp, ...

'' and perhaps the genus ''

Capoeta ''Capoeta'', also known as scrapers, is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae found in Western Asia. The distribution extends from Turkey to the Levant, to Transcaucasia, Iraq, Turkmenistan , in Armenia,particularly in lake Sevan and northern ...

''. These and the other "typical" barbs and barbels were formerly often separated as

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Barbinae, but this group is highly

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

with regard to the Cyprininae and better merged there at least for the largest part (including ''Puntius''). In particular the genus ''

Barbonymus ''Barbonymus'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae, containing some barb species. The genus was only established in 1999, with the tinfoil barb (''B. schwanenfeldii'') as type species; thus, these fish are sometimes collectively ...

'', containing the

tinfoil barb The tinfoil barb (''Barbonymus schwanenfeldii'') is a tropical Southeast Asian freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae. This species was originally described as ''Barbus schwanenfeldii'' by Pieter Bleeker in 1853, and has also been placed in th ...

and its relatives – for some time included in ''Puntius'' – appears to be a kind of

that has evolved convergently with barbs.

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus: * ''

Puntius ambassis ''Puntius ambassis'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius'' from India. References ambassis ''Ambassis'' is a genus of fish in the family Ambassidae, the Asiatic glassfishes. They are found widely in the Indo-Pacific r ...

'' ( F. Day, 1869) * ''

Puntius amphibius The scarlet-banded barb (''Puntius amphibius'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius''. It is found in streams in India and Sri Lanka. It can reach a length of . References

Puntius, amphibius Taxa named by Achille Vale ...

'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 1842) (Scarlet-banded barb) * ''

Puntius aphya ''Puntius aphya'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius'' native to freshwater habitats in Java, Indonesia. It is only known from a single old specimen, but its validity is questionable and recent authorities treat it as a synony ...

'' ( Günther, 1868) * '' Puntius arenatus'' ( F. Day, 1878) (Arenatus barb) * '' Puntius bimaculatus'' (

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Puntius bramoides ''Puntius bramoides'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius''. It has been reported from Indonesia and the Mekong in Laos, but its validity is questionable and recent authorities treat it as a synonym of ''Barbonymus balleroides ...

'' (

, 1842) * ''

Puntius brevis ''Puntius brevis'', sometimes known as the swamp barb (although ''Puntius chola'' is also known by that name), is a species of ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. Th ...

'' (

Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Puntius burmanicus'' ( F. Day, 1878) * '' Puntius cauveriensis'' ( Hora, 1937) (Cauvery barb) * ''

Puntius chola The swamp barb or chola barb (''Puntius chola'') is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Cyprininae of the family Cyprinidae. It originates in inland waters in Asia, and is found in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri La ...

'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Swamp barb) * '' Puntius crescentus'' G. M. Yazdani & D. F. Singh, 1994 * ''

Puntius deccanensis ''Puntius deccanensis'', the ''Deccan barb'', is a critically endangered species of ray-finned fish in the genus Puntius ''Puntius'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asi ...

'' G. M. Yazdani & M. Babu Rao, 1976 (Deccan barb) * ''

Puntius dolichopterus The longfin Kerala barb (''Puntius dolichopterus'') is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae. The species has been discovered, named and described by Prof. Dr. Mathews Plamoottil, Head of the Department of Zoology, Baby John Memorial Govt. Co ...

'' Plamoottil, 2015 (Longfin Kerala barb) * '' Puntius dorsalis'' ( Jerdon, 1849) (Long-snouted barb) * ''

Puntius euspilurus ''Puntius euspilurus'' is a species of barbs native to the Mananthavady River in Kerala, 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 po ...

'' Plamoottil 2016 * '' Puntius fraseri'' ( Hora &

Misra Misra or Mishra may refer to: * Motor Industry Software Reliability Association * MISRA C, a software development standard for the C programming language * Misra (poetry), a term meaning a line of a couplet, or verse, in Turkic, Arabic, Persian an ...

, 1938) (Dharna barb) * '' Puntius kamalika'' N. K. A. Silva, Maduwage & Pethiyagoda, 2008 * '' Puntius kelumi'' Pethiyagoda, N. K. A. Silva, Maduwage & Meegaskumbura, 2008 * ''

Puntius khohi ''Puntius khohi'' is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae in Puntius 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, ...

'' Dobriyal, R. Singh, S. P. Uniyal, H. K. Joshi, S. Phurailatpam & M. S. Bisht, 2004 * '' Puntius kyphus'' Plamootitl, 2019 * '' Puntius layardi'' ( Günther, 1868) * ''

Puntius madhusoodani ''Puntius madhusoodani'' is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae in Puntius genus. The species has been discovered in 2010, named and described jointly by Krishnakumar, Benno Pereira & Radhakrishnan and a study first published in Biosystemat ...

'' Krishna Kumar, Benno Pereira & Radhakrishnan, 2012 Krishna Kumar, K., Benno Pereira, F.G. & Radhakrishnan, K.V. (2012)
''Puntius madhusoodani'' (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), a new species of barb from Manimala River, Kerala, South India.
''Biosystematica, 5 (2): 31-37.'' * '' Puntius mahecola'' (

, 1844) (Mahecola barb) * '' Puntius masyai'' H. M. Smith, 1945 * ''

Puntius melanostigma ''Puntius melanostigma'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''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 former ...

'' F. Day, 1878 * '' Puntius morehensis'' Arunkumar & Tombi Singh, 1998 * ''

Puntius mudumalaiensis ''Puntius mudumalaiensis'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Puntius. It is found in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territori ...

Menon Menon may refer to: People *Menon (subcaste), an honorary title accorded to some members of the Nair community of Kerala, southern India; used as a surname by many holders of the title Surnamed *Menon (surname), the surname of several people Give ...

& Rema Devi, 1992 * ''

Puntius muzaffarpurensis ''Puntius muzaffarpurensis'' is a species of cyprinid fish native to 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 t ...

Srivastava Srivastava (; ), also spelled variously as Shrivastava, Shrivastav or Srivastav, is a common surname found amongst the Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha community of upper caste Hindus particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions of India. Origin Srivast ...

, K. P. Verma & R. B. Sharma, 1977 * '' Puntius nangalensis'' Jayaram, 1990 * '' Puntius nelsoni'' Plamoottil, 2014 (Travancore yellow barb) * '' Puntius nigronotus'' Plamoottil, 2014 Plamoottil, M. (2014)
''Puntius nigronotus'', a new fish species (Cypriniformes; Cyprinidae) from Kerala, India.
''Journal of Research in Biology, 4 (8): 1581–1588.'' (Malabar black-backed barb) * ''

Puntius ocellus ''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 ...

'' Plamoottil & Vineeth, 2020Egypt. Acad. J. Biolog. Sci. (B. Zoology) Vol. 12(2) pp: 93-102(2020) * ''

Puntius parrah The Parrah barb (''Puntius parrah'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Puntius. It is found in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India. References

Puntius Taxa named by Francis Day Fish described in 1865 {{puntius-stub ...

'' F. Day, 1865 (Parrah barb) * '' Puntius paucimaculatus'' Y. H. Wang & Y. Ni, 1982 * '' Puntius pugio'' S. O. Kullander, 2008 * '' Puntius punjabensis'' ( F. Day, 1871) * '' Puntius puntio'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Puntio barb) * '' Puntius sahyadriensis''

Silas Silas or Silvanus (; Greek: Σίλας/Σιλουανός; fl. 1st century AD) was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who according to the New Testament accompanied Paul the Apostle on his second missionary journey. Name and et ...

, 1953 (Khavli barb) * '' Puntius sanctus'' Plamoottil 2020 * '' Puntius sealei'' ( Herre, 1933) * '' Puntius somphongsi'' ( Benl & Klausewitz, 1962) * '' Puntius sophore'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Pool barb) * ''

Puntius sophoroides ''Puntius sophoroides'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''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 ...

'' ( Günther, 1868) * ''

Puntius spilopterus ''Puntius spilopterus'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Puntius''. It is sometimes considered conspecific with ''Puntius brevis''. It is found in the Chao Phraya basin in Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam ...

'' ( Fowler, 1934) * '' Puntius takhoaensis'' Nguyen & Doan, 1969) * '' Puntius terio'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Onespot barb) * '' Puntius tetraspilus'' Günther, 1868) * '' Puntius thermalis''

, 1844) * '' Puntius titteya''

Deraniyagala Deraniyagala is a town in the Kegalle district in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Deraniyaga city area consists major government administrative offices, textile industries and transportation hub and the district hospital which has seve ...

, 1929 (Cherry barb) * ''

Puntius viridis ''Puntius viridis'', the spot-fin green barb, is a species of barbs native to the Manimala River in Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, ...

'' Plamoottil &

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

, 2014 Plamoottil, M. & Abraham, N.P. (2014)
''Puntius viridis'' (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae), a new fish species from Kerala, India.
''Journal of Research in Biology, 3 (7): 1093–1104.'' (Spotfin green barb) * '' Puntius vittatus'' F. Day, 1865 (Greenstripe barb) * ''

Puntius waageni ''Puntius waageni'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Puntius. This species is endemic to Pakistan. The fish is named in honor of the geologist and paleontologist Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen Wilhelm Heinrich Waagen (23 June 184124 March ...

'' ( F. Day, 1872)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q131627 Cyprinidae genera Fish of Southeast Asia Fish of South Asia Taxa named by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton