Sri Lankan scientists have described a new barb from southwestern Sri Lanka.
Publishing the description in a recent issue of the journal Zootaxa, Anjana Silva, Kalana Maduwage and Rohan Pethiyagoda name the new barb Puntius kamalika.
The new species was previously confused with P. amphibius, a species restricted to western India and not found in Sri Lanka.
Puntius kamalika can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the number of scale rows between the mid-dorsal scale row and the pelvic-fin origin, and lacking any markings on the body and fins.
The species is named after pediatrician and prominent AIDS activist Kamalika Abeyaratne.
For more information, see the paper: Silva, A, K Maduwage and R Pethiyagoda (2008) Puntius kamalika, a new species of barb from Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa 1824, pp. 55"64.