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| Badis pancharatnaensis
Basumatary, Choudhury, Baishya, Sarma & Vishwanath, 2016
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Abstract
Badis pancharatnaensis, a new percomorph, is described from the Brahmaputra River drainage of Assam, India. It is distinguished from its congeners by having the following combination of characters: a conspicuous black blotch on the superficial part of cleithrum; pointed soft dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins, the 2nd soft ray of pelvic-fin reaching slightly beyond the vent; 13 ‒ 14 pectoral-fin rays; circumpeduncular scales 14 ‒ 17; body depth 28.2 ‒ 33.8% of SL; interorbital distance 7.1 ‒ 9.4% of SL; and 28 number of vertebrae.
Key words: Badidae, Badis, taxonomy, new species, River Brahmaputra, Assam.
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| Fig. 2. Colouration in life of Badis pancharatnaensis sp. nov.
Fig. 4. Map showing type locality of Badis pancharatnaensis sp. nov.
Fig. 5. Hasila Beel, type locality of Badis pancharatnaensis sp. nov. showing habitat.
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Diagnosis: Badis pancharatnaensis sp. nov. is distinct from all its congeners in having a combination of characters: presence of dark brownish black bars on sides; a series of dark blotches along middle of dorsal-fin; a prominent black blotch on the superficial part of cleithrum; elongate median caudal blotch with a posterior bar surrounding the caudal-fin base; pointed pelvic-fin reaching beyond vent in both the sexes; pointed soft dorsal and anal-fin; 28.2 ‒ 33.8% SL body depth; 7.1 ‒ 9.4% SL interorbital distance; 14 ‒ 17 circumpeduncular scales; 31 ‒ 33 lateral scale rows; 6 ‒ 8 number of gill rakers; and 28 (15+13) number of vertebrae
Distribution and habitat. Presently the species is known from Hasila Beel – a riverine wetland of Brahmaputra drainage at Goalpara district, Assam, India (Fig. 4). The type locality is a low lying wetland having dense macrophytic vegetation well connected with the River Brahmaputra and often flooded by the river water; that shows high degree of rise and fall of water level depending on seasonal climatic variations (Fig. 5).
The associated fish fauna caught along with the species were Amblypharyngodon mola, Anabas testudineus, Channa gachua, Lepidocephalichthys guntea, Mastacembelus armatus, Macrognathus pancalus, Puntius sophore and Trichogaster fasciata which commonly occur in the region.
Etymology. The species is named after the historical place called ‘Pancharatna’ in Goalpara district of Assam, India.
Sudem Basumatary, Hrishikesh Choudhury, Ratul A. Baishya, Dandadhar Sarma and Waikhom Vishwanath. 2016. Badis pancharatnaensis, A New Percoid Fish Species from Brahmaputra River drainage, Assam, India (Teleostei: Badidae).Vertebrate Zoology. 66(2); 151-156.
http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/publikationen/vertebratezoology/vz66-2/05_vertebrate_zoology_66-2_basumatary-sarma_151-156.pdf
http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/publikationen/vertebratezoology/vz66-2/05_vertebrate_zoology_66-2_basumatary-sarma_151-156.pdf
