Species

* '' Opsarius barna'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (''Barilius barna'') * '' Opsarius barnoides''

Decio Vinciguerra Decio Vinciguerra (23 May 1856 – 5 October 1934) was an Italian physician and ichthyologist who for many years was Director of the Aquarium of Rome. Early years Decio Vinciguerra was born in Genoa on 23 May 1856. He studied at the University of ...

, 1890 * '' Opsarius bernatziki'' Koumans, 1937 * '' Opsarius cocsa'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) * ''

Opsarius koratensis ''Opsarius koratensis'' is a fish in genus '' Opsarius'' of the family Cyprinidae. It is found in the Mekong and Chao Phraya The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, ...

'' ( H. M. Smith, 1931) * '' Opsarius maculatus'' (

McClelland McClelland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alyssa McClelland, Australian actress * Charles A. McClelland (1917–2006), American political systems analyst * Charles P. McClelland (1854–1944), New York politician, and US ...

, 1839) * '' Opsarius pulchellus'' ( H. M. Smith, 1931) * '' Opsarius tileo'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (''Barilius tileo'')

Location

Fishes from the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Opsarius'' can be found in a variety of countries in

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. These countries include

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and China. Certain

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 appropriat ...

of ''Opsarius'' are considered

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 else ...

to their respective habitats; such as ''Opsarius'' cocsa and ''Opsarius'' ''maculatus'' which are endemic to India.

Status

According to the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...

, significant data is lacking to determine the status of all of the Opsarius species except for ''

.'' ''Opsarius koratensis'' was last evaluated in March of 2011 and was determined to be stable and locally common throughout its range.Vidthayanon, C. 2012. Opsarius koratensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T180762A1660076. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T180762A1660076.en. Accessed on 06 April 2022. Habitat deterioration, specifically agriculture, deforestation, pollution, and other ecosystem modifiers, is a possible hazard for these fishes.

Habitat

Fishes of the genus ''Opsarius'' can be found in inland freshwaters such as streams, rivers, creeks, and waterfalls. Generally, these water bodies will have sandy or rocky bottoms which is the preferred benthic environment for these fishes. Fishes of this genus have also been known to live in wetlands.

Discovery

The first evidence of ''Opsarius'' in scientific literature can be found in the book Indian

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 ve ...

published in 1839 by John McCleland.McClelland, J. (1839). Indian cyprinidae (Vol. 19). Bishop's College Press. In this book many different ''Opsarius'' species were identified. In the following years little additional information on this species of fish was collected. Today, there is very little information published on these fishes and new discoveries have not been made in many years.

Body Characteristics

Species of the genus ''Opsarius'' have widely cleft mouths resemblant 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 ...

. Additionally, ''Opsarius'' species will have a slender body usually marked by transverse stripes or spots. The

dorsal fins A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through co ...

of ''Opsarius'' are spineless and small. One of the largest ''Opsarius'' species is '' Opsarius tileo'' which grows to 15 cm in length.Vishwanath, W. 2010. Barilius tileo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T166605A6245604. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T166605A6245604.en. Accessed on 07 April 2022.

Diet

Some ''Opsarius'' species are considered to be fish-eating. Other ''Opsarius'' species are surface feeders and primarily will feed on insects. The insects that ''Opsarius'' species will choose to feed on will be smaller in size as the gape limitation limits ''Opsarius'' species to what they can fit in their mouths.

Human Uses

Humans use the various species of ''Opsarius'' in a variety of ways. '' Opsarius pulchellus'' is not considered food, but is used as bait in fence filter traps. '' Opsarius pulchellus'' also is sold in the aquarium trade internationally. ''

'' is not used by humans as widely as the prior. ''Opsarius koratensis'' is not used for food, or for fishing, and is rarely seen in the aquarium trade. '' Opsarius tileo'' is considered a good table fish, especially in the

Eastern Himalayas ] The Eastern Himalayas extend from eastern Nepal across Northeast India, Bhutan, the Tibet Autonomous Region to Yunnan in China and northern Myanmar. The climate of this region is influenced by the monsoon of South Asia from June to Septemb ...

. ''Opsarius tileo'' is also found in the aquarium trade. '' Opsarius bernatziki'' is not used as a food fish but is found in the ornamental fish trade. '' Opsarius barna'' is not used widely in the aquarium trade.Dahanukar, N. 2011. Barilius barna. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T166501A6223034. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T166501A6223034.en. Accessed on 07 April 2022. In

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, ''Opsarius barna'' stimulates the economy by being sold as a food fish. '' Opsarius barnoides'' is not used as a food fish but as an aquarium fish.Vidthayanon, C. 2012. Opsarius barnoides. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T188061A1850126. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T188061A1850126.en. Accessed on 07 April 2022.

References

* Fish of Asia {{Cyprinidae-stub