Further emphasising the massive undiscovered ichthyological diversity of the Myanmar region, two taxonomists have described seven new species of cyprinid from the Rakhine Yoma.
Sven Kullander and Fang Fang of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, who are both well known for their work on the fishes of Myanmar, described the new fish in the latest issue of the journal Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters.
Garra propulvinus, nigricollaris, vittatula, flavatra and rakhinica were found on the western side of the Rakhine Yoma, while G. spilota and poecilura were found on the eastern slope in the Irrawaddy drainage.
Some of the new cyprinids, which live on the bottom among rocks and pebbles, and have specially adapted sucking mouthparts, sound as if they could have aquarium potential.
G. vittatula has a distinct lateral band, while spilota is unique among Garra for the presence of its row of dark blotches along the flanks, as is G. flavatra which has a series of dark bars on a yellow background.
For more details see the full paper: Kullander, SO and F Fang (2004) - Seven new species of Garra (Cyprinidae: Cyprininae) from the Rakhine Yoma, southern Myanmar. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. Vol. 15. No 3. 257-278.