''Schistura notostigma'', the spotback loach, 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 ''
Schistura
''Schistura'' is a genus of fish in the stone loach family Nemacheilidae native to the streams and rivers of the southern and eastern Asia. Some of these species are troglobitic
A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or ...
'', distributed in peninsula of
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 the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
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 ...
. Until 2017, it was thought to be the only species of ''Schistura''
stone loach
The stone loach (''Barbatula barbatula'') is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus ''Barbatula''. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowin ...
found in Sri Lanka before a new species ''
Schistura madhavai'', was
described.
Description
''Schistura notostigma'' can be identified by the presence of 6 to 7 wide brown post-dorsal bars, emarginated caudal fin, incomplete lateral line, pelvic fin, which is adpressed always surpassing the anal fin.
References
N
Fish described in 1863
{{Nemacheilidae-stub