[Ichthyology • 2017] Five New Species of Neolissochilus Rainboth, 1985 (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from the Western Ghats, peninsular India; Neolissochilus capudelphinus, N. minimus, N. micropthalmus, N. acutirostris & N. tamiraparaniensis

Figure 3. Live specimens of (A) Neolissochilus capudelphinus sp. nov. MSUMNH191, 216.21 mm SL, upstream of the diverted water from Periyar River, M. Arunachalam and team, 16 March 2003, 
(B) Neolissochilus minimus sp. nov. MSUMNH192, 127.34 mm SL, from the diverted water of Periyar River in the forest reserves of Cumbam Valley, M. Arunachalam and team, 03 March 2003,
(C) Neolissochilus micropthalmus sp. nov. MSUMNH193, 163.72 mm SL, Ambayathode in the forest reserves in the Kannur District, Kerala, M. Arunachalam and team, 09 February 2003,
(D) Neolissochilus acutirostris, sp. nov. MSUMNH194, 160.17 mm SL, Abby falls a stream in the Cauvery River drainage in Kodagu District, Karnataka, M. Arunachalam and team, 22 March 2004 and
(E) Neolissochilus tamiraparaniensis, sp. nov. MSUMNH195, 246.56 mm SL, Gadana River of Tamiraparani River basin (east flowing in southern Tamil Nadu), M. Arunachalam and team, 24 February 2004.

Arunachalam, Sivakumar & Murugan, 2017
FishTaxa.com 

Abstract 
The genus Neolissochilus was described by Rainboth, 1985 and currently includes 24 nominal taxa with distributions in southern and south-eastern Asia. Five new species of Neolissochilus are described herein from streams and rivers of the Western Ghats, peninsular India, one of the World’s hotspots of biodiversity. The new species include Neolissochilus capudelphinus, N. minimus, N. micropthalmus, N. acutirostris and N. tamiraparaniensis. Neolissochilus wynaadensis (Day, 1873), also from the Western Ghats is considered a valid species. The five new species are described based on meristic, morphometric characters, and molecular data. Relationships among the newly described species and the relationships of Neolissochilus with Systomus (=Barbodes /Puntius), Hypselobarbus Bleeker and Tor Gray, all presumed closely related lineages are discussed.

Keywords: Cyprinidae, Neolissochilus capudelphinus, Neolissochilus minimus, Neolissochilus micropthalmus, Neolissochilus acutirostris, Neolissochilus tamiraparaniensis.

Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam, Paramasivan Sivakumar and Manavalan Murugan. 2017. Descriptions of Five New Species of Neolissochilus Rainboth, 1985 (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from Streams/Rivers of the Western Ghats, peninsular India. FishTaxa. 2(1); 1-27.
FishTaxa.com/index.php/ft/article/view/2-1-1/74