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| Opsarius geminus Vijayakrishnan, Nallathambi, Jayasimhan, & Knight, 2026 Barilius papillatus Day 1869 |
Abstract
Opsarius geminus, a new species of danionid fish is described from the Krishna River, Western Ghats, India. It can be distinguished from its congeners in the Western Ghats by possessing a combination of the following characters: unique colour pattern consisting of 9–11 blue bars that are 2–3 scales wide; 46–51 lateral-line scales; 20–23 pre-dorsal scales; barbels absent; length of last dorsal-fin ray almost equal to, or greater than length of first dorsal-fin ray; 7 ½–8½ dorsal-fin branched rays and 10½–11½ anal-fin branched rays. Barilius papillatus Day 1869, currently a synonym of Opsarius barna (Hamilton, 1822) is redescribed, based on the syntype and fresh specimens, and a lectotype is designated to fix its identity. Opsarius papillatus can be diagnosed from all its congeners in India, by possessing a combination of the following characters: colour pattern consisting of 7–9 blue bars that are 1–2 scales wide; 39–41 lateral-line scales; 15–18 pre-dorsal scales; barbels absent; length of last dorsal-fin ray shorter than length of first dorsal-fin ray; 7½ dorsal-fin branched rays and 10½ anal-fin branched rays.
Pisces, new species, Opsarius barna, Krishna River, Mahanadi River, Eastern ghats
BALAJI VIJAYAKRISHNAN, MOULITHARAN NALLATHAMBI, PRAVEENRAJ JAYASIMHAN, J.D. MARCUS KNIGHT. 2026. Opsarius geminus, A New danionid fish from the Western Ghats, India and Revalidation of Barilius papillatus Day 1869 (Teleostei: Danionidae). Zootaxa. 5878(4); 589-600. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5878.4.7 [2026-09-16]