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 ...
of small
cyprinid
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 ver ...
fishes
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 Sri Lanka. They are found in small, slow-flowing and shaded streams in the southwestern part of the island. They are essentially restricted to lowlands, although one introduced population occurs at an altitude of .Sudasinghe, H., J. Herath, R. Pethiyagoda and M. Meegaskumbura. (2018). Undocumented Translocations Spawn Taxonomic Inflation in Sri Lankan Fire Rasboras (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae). PeerJ. 6:e6084. They are calm, social and attractively colored fish that sometimes are kept in aquariums.
Species
Historically, there was only a single recognized species in this genus, ''R. vaterifloris'', but in a review in 2013 four species were recognized, and this is followed by FishBase. A comprehensive review in 2018 disputed this and only recognized two species, ''R. pallidus'' and ''R. vaterifloris'' (the other two considered junior synonyms).
* '' Rasboroides nigromarginatus'' (Meinken, 1957)
* ''
Rasboroides pallidus
''Rasboroides pallidus'' is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish endemic to southwestern Sri Lanka. It is only known from shallow, slow-flowing streams in the basins of the Kalu River, Bentara River, Gin River, Polathu-Modera River and Nilwala R ...
''
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 ...
, 1958
* ''
Rasboroides rohani
''Rasboroides rohani'', is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish endemic to Sri Lanka where only known from shallow, slow-flowing, shady streams near Suriyakanda in the Walawe River basin. It was scientifically described in 2013, but a comprehe ...
'' Batuwita, M. de Silva & Edirisinghe, 2013Batuwita, S., Silva, M.d. & Edirisinghe, U. (2013): A review of the danionine genera ''Rasboroides'' and ''Horadandia'' (Pisces: Cyprinidae), with description of a new species from Sri Lanka. ''Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 24 (2): 121-140.''
* '' Rasboroides vaterifloris'' (
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 ...