Sri Lankan scientists have described a new species of barb from southwestern Sri Lanka in a recent issue of the journal Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters.
Sri Lankan naturalists Kelum Manamendra-Arachi, Rohan Pethiyagoda, Anjan Silva, Kalana Maduwage and Madhava Meegaskumbura named the new barb Puntius kelumi.
Picture kindly supplied by Rohan Pethiyagoda.
It differs from congeners in peninsular India and Sri Lanka in having a combination of: smooth last unbranched dorsal-fin ray, body depth 28.6"35.5% standard length, a single pair of barbels about as long as eye diameter, 20"23 lateral-line scales, 3/1/2 scales in transverse line from mid-dorsum to pelvic-fin origin, notched posterior profile of mid-body lateral-line scales and breeding males with sides of head and body rough, scattered extensively with breeding tubercles.
Puntius kelumi is found mainly in large, clear-water streams flowing from mountains that contain a granite, pebble or sand substrate and are often strewn with boulders.
For more information, see the paper: Pethiyagoda, R, A Silva, K Maduwage and M Meegaskumbura (2008) Puntius kelumi, a new species of cyprinid fish from Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 19, pp. 201"214.