Question: in which of the following state of India three new species of fish of genus Aborichthys of family have been recently found?
a) Himachal Pradesh
b) Arunachal Pradesh
c) Sikkim
d) Uttarakhand
Answer: (b)
Related Facts:-
- Three new species of fish of genus Aborichthys of family Nemachelidae have been discovered from Arunachal Pradesh recently.
- A team of researchers from Department of Zoology of Dera Natung Government College of Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh has made this discovery.
- The three fish species discovered have been named as Aborichthys uniobarensis, Aborichthys barapensis and Aborichthys palinensis.
- These fish species are distributed in streams like Senki, Barap and Palin, which are the tributaries of Brahmaputra river system.
- The discovery has been published in international journals like Asian Journal of Conservation Biology, Journal of Threatened Taxa and FishTaxa.
- Aborichthys is an elongate and slender-bodied bottom-dwelling freshwater stone loach fish.
- It inhabits the moderate-to-fast flowing water of Mountain Rivers, streams and drainages of the Brahmaputra river basin.
- These fishes are endemic to the eastern Himalayas.
- The fishes of this species are characterised by narrow oblique bars on the body.
- The fish has a black ocellus at the upper extremity of the caudal-fin base and a rounded or truncated caudal fin.
- It should be noted that the Eastern Himalaya is one of the four major biodiversity hotspots of India.
- It is endemic to more than 20 per cent fauna of India, including the fish species, in this region, Arunachal Pradesh, a land of rivers, is known for its rich biodiversity.