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
''Barbodes'' is a genus of small to medium-sized cyprinid fish native to tropical Asia. The majority of the species are from Southeast Asia. Many species are threatened and some from the Philippines (Lake Lanao) are already extinct. A survey carr ...
'', ''
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
''Pethia'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia, East Asia (only Pethia stoliczkana recorded) and Mainland Southeast Asia. Some species are commonly seen in the aquarium trade. The name ''Pethia'' is d ...
'', ''
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 ...
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
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.;;;;;;;; ...
(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
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 ...
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 ...
. The greatest
species richness
Species richness is the number of different species represented in an ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the abundances of the species or their relative a ...
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
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...
; 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
''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is the common barbel, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily B ...
''. 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"
barb
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
s and
barbel Barbel may refer to:
*Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles
*Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish
**''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...
s 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
Barbinae are a subfamily of fish included in the family Cyprinidae. The taxonomy for this group has not been entirely worked out as some genera historically considered within it are still considered incertae sedis with respect to being a member ...
, 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
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 ...
These are the currently recognized species in this genus:
* '' Puntius ambassis'' ( 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 ...
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Puntius bramoides'' (
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)
* ''
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 ...
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 ...
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 p ...
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 ...
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 ...
Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Puntius sophore
The pool barb, spotfin swamp barb, or stigma barb (''Puntius sophore'') is a tropical freshwater and brackish fish belonging to the Puntius genus in the family Cyprinidae. It is native to inland waters in Asia and is found in India, Nepal, Bangla ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...