Range Extension of Mystus Bleekeri (Day) To the Fresh Waters of Tamil Nadu and Notes on Its Congeners in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka

3 Pages·2001·1.9 MB·

by  K Rema Devi

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Acknowledgements K. Harikantha and Sridhar B. Harikantha. The
fieldwork was done with Prakash Pandit of the
IthankDr.K.C. Jayaramforconfirmingthe Dr. A.V. Baliga College for Science and Arts;
identification, and Prof. Madhav Gadgil for help special thanks are due to him for his active
and encouragement. I thank the Karnataka Forest participation.
Departmentandthe MinistryofEnvironmentand
ANURADHABHAT
Forests, Govt, ofIndia for financial assistance to April, 1999
facilitate the fieldwork. Centrefor Ecological Sciences,
This work would not have been possible Indian Institute ofScience,
without the assistance ofSridharPatgar, Vamana Bangalore 560012, Karnataka, India
References
Day, F. (1889): The Fauna of British India, Jayaram,K.C.(1955):ThePalearcticelementinthefish
including Ceylon and Burma. Fishes 1: xiii+548 faunaofpeninsularIndia.Bull.Natl. Inst.Sci. India
pp. 7:260-265.
Jayaram, K.C. (1952): Taxonomic notes on the fish Jayaram,K.C.(1981):FreshwaterfishesofIndia,Pakistan,
PseudobagruschryseusDay, 1865.Ann.Mag.Nat. Bangladesh,Burma,andSri Lanka. HandBookof
Hist. 12(5):980-983. ZSI,Calcutta.No.2,XI 1 +475pp.
25. RANGE EXTENSION OF MYSTUSBLEEKERI(DAY) TO THE FRESH WATERS OF
TAMIL NADU ANDNOTES ON ITS CONGENERS IN TAMIL NADU AND SRI LANKA
Day(1875-78)namedthespecimensfrom gill-rakers on the lower arm, 9-11 vs. 22-27
RiverHooghly,CalcuttaMacronesbleekeri(now (Sharma and Dutt 1983).
Mystus bleekeri) which Bleeker in 1853 had The distribution ofbleekeri is stated to be
identified as belonging to the species keletius north India, with Mahanadi as its southern limit
(Valenciennes, 1839: type locality - (Menon 1999;Jayaram 1999).However, Sharma
Pondicherry). Though both the species bear and Dutt (op. cit.), reported it from peninsular
lateralstripes onthebody, they differin several India (Andhra Pradesh: Guntur). Recently, the
characters. In bleekeri the occipital process is species was reported from Neyyar river in
,
twiceaslongasbroadandreachesthebasalbone Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala by Raju et
of dorsal; adipose dorsal base is long, al. (1999), andPonmudi, alsointhesamedistrict
commencingjustbehind lastdorsalray, itsbase (Cherian et al., in press).
being 2.4 times the rayed dorsal; maxillary This report is based on collections made
barbels are long, reaching the anal fin, whereas duringpaddyfieldecosystemstudiesbythethird
in the latter, the occipital process is narrow, author. Ten specimens ranging in length from
being 3 times as long as broad at the base and 59 to 122 mm SL were collected during May-
does notreachthebasalbone ofdorsal; adipose October 1999, from Singapemmal Koil paddy
dorsalbase is shorter being 1.1 times the rayed field in Chengleput district. This extends its
dorsal base, with wide interdorsal space; distributional range to Tamil Nadu.
maxillary barbels are shorter, reaching only the Jayaram (op. cit.) listed 19 species of
middle ofpelvic fin(Day, op. cit. Misra 1976). Mystus from the Indian subcontinent, ofwhich,
;
M. bleekeri (Fig. 1) also differs fromthe widely with the recent inclusion of microphthalmus
distributed striped catfish vittatus (Bloch 1797) (Day) from Manipur, 14 species are represented
by its longer adipose dorsal and less number of in Indian territory. With the exception of this
296 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2), AUG. 2001
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
speciesandtengara(Hamilton) [tengarahasbeen in the pectoral and anal fins, the maxillary
synonymised with vittatus by Sharma and Dutt barbel length and body proportions.
(op. cit.), but kept separate by Menon (op. cit.) Day (op. cit.) originally reported keletius
and Jayaram (op. cit.)], all the remaining 12 from Sri Lanka, which has been followed by
species are known from peninsular India. Of subsequentworkers. Pethiyagoda(op. cit.) inhis
these, four species namely krishnensis descriptionofthe species (p. 149) lists cavasius
Ramakrishnaiah,malabaricus(Jerdon),oculatus as one ofthe names applied to it in Sri Lanka
(Valenciennes) and punctatus (Jerdon) are probablybecauseof“confusedidentity”. Healso
endemic to the Peninsula, mostly restricted to mentions that it attains a length of 18 cm,
the hill streams ofthe Western Ghats. With the whereas it is known from literature thatkeletius
recent addition ofmalabaricus from the Indira is a smaller species, reaching only 12 cm in
GandhiWildlife Sanctuary,AnaimalaiHills,and length. Fromthe photographs ofthe Sri Lankan
the present addition of bleekeri from the fresh species it is certain that cavasius is present in
watersofChennai,ninespeciesarerecordedfrom Sri Lanka. It is also inferred that, including
Tamil Nadu. It is worth mentioning here that cavasius fourspeciesareknownfromSriLanka
,
montanus (Jerdon), recently reported from (overlappingcharactersofboththespeciesgiven
Javadhi Hills of Eastern Ghats (Rema Devi, in literature), and if keletius is a mistaken
1992), is also found in the Tamil Nadu part of identityforcavasius,thenthreespeciescavasius,
tfye Anaimalais, Western Ghats. gulioandvittatusarepresent. Interestingly, these
Three species ofMystus namely gulio three species inhabiting swampy lowlands are
, ,
keletius and vittatus (Deraniyagala 1952; very widely distributed in the Indo-Malayan
Pethiyagoda 1991) areknown from Sri Lanka. region. None ofthe hill stream catfish in India
However, there seems to be some discrepancy are represented in Sri Lanka.
in the record ofkeletius in Sri Lanka. Though
the figure accompanying the description in Acknowledgements
Munro (op. cit.) is thatgivenbyDay (op. cit.),
the description of adipose dorsal fin is a We thank Dr. J.R.B. Alfred, Director,
featuretypical ofcavasius. Besides, forseveral ZoologicalSurveyofIndia,andDr.P.T.Cherian,
other characters given, the range covers both AddnlDirector, SouthernRegionalStation, ZSI,
the species. However, the photograph Chennai, for facilities. Dr. Cherian also for
captioned as keletius ( p. 150), accompanying critical examination of the manuscript. Our
the descriptionbyPethiyagoda(op. cit.) isthat grateful thanks to Dr. A.G.K. Menon, Scientist
of cavasius. Also, as evidenced by the same Emeritus for encouraging us and providing
photograph, cavasius is characterised by a literature.
long, adipose dorsalcommencing immediately
aftertherayeddorsal, whichistriangular, long February 1, 2000 K. REMA DEVI,
and pointed, with a concave margin; smaller T.J. INDRA,
RAGHUNATHAN
head, deeper body and absence of lateral M.B.
stripes, whereas keletius has a smaller adipose Zoological Sui'vey ofIndia,
dorsal, with a wide interspace between it and Southern Regional Station,
the rayed dorsal, which is low and with a 100 Santhome High Road,
somewhat rounded margin. Other known Chennai 600 028,
differences are: the number ofbranched rays Tamil Nadu, India.
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2),AUG. 2001 291
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
References
Cherian, P.T., T.J. Indra, K. Rema Devi, M.B. Misra,K.S.(1976):TheFaunaofIndiaandtheAdjacent
Raghunathan&V.M.Sathjshkumar(inpress):Onthe Countries.Pisces.(2ndedition).Vol. Ill,Teleostomi:
Ichthyofauna of Trivandrum Dist., Kerala, India. Cypriniformes: Silurii. Zoological Survey of India.
ZoologicalSurveyofIndia.20pp. Calcutta.367pp.,XVpis.
Day, F. (1875-78): The fishes ofIndia, being a natural Pethiyagoda,R.(19^1): FreshwaterfishesofSri Lanka.
history ofthe fishes known to inhabit the seas and WildlifeHeritageTrustofSri Lanka.362pp.
Dfraewsshwoante&rsSoonfsInLdoina,doBnu,r7m7a8papn.d, 1C9e5ylpoins.. William RajuMyTshtoumsabsl,eeKk.e,riC.(RD.ayB)ij—u&AnC.aRd.diAtjiiotnhtKouthmeafris(h1f9a9u9)n:a
Deraniyac.\LA, P.E.P. (1952): A coloured atlasofsome ofKerala. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 93(3):482-483.
vertebrates from Ceylon (1), fishes. National Mus. RemaDevi, K.(1992):Onasmallcollectionoffishfrom
CeylonColombo. 149pp.,34pis. Javadhi Hills,NorthArcotDistrict,TamilNadu.Rec.
Jayaram,K.C.(1999):ThefreshwaterfishesoftheIndian zool. Surv. India 91(3-4):353-360.
Region. Narendra Publishing House, Delhi. 551 pp., Sharma, S.V. & S. Durr (1983): Taxonomic studies on
XVIIIpis, four species of the genus Mystus Scopoli, 1777
Menon,A.G.K.(1999):CheckList-FreshwaterFishesof (Siluriformes:Bagridae)Rec.zool.Surv.India81:331-
India.Zool. Surv. India, Occ.paperNo.175,366pp. 344.
Editor’s Note: With reference to the note Thomas K.P. etal. (1999): Additions to the fish fauna ofPambar
River, Kerala, Vol. 96(2) it hasbeen pointed outby Dr. K. RemaDevi thatthere is avariation in the scalation
ofthemiddorsal streak in Garrahughi,which hasbeen overlooked bytheauthors. Also.Horalabiosajoshuai
as already been reported from Kerala (Rema Devi, K. & A.G.K. Menon (1994), Rec. zool. Surv. India, 94(2-
4): 247-251).
26. RESOLUTION OF THE CONTROVERSIAL WESTERN LIMIT OF THE RANGE
OF DELIASACALISGODART (LEPIDOPTERA: PIERIDAE)
Thewesternlimitofthedistributionofthe elevationofapproximately450 m. Thebutterfly
RedbreastJezebelDeliasacalispyramusWallace was attracted to poinsettia blooms Euphorbia
(
hasbeenthe subjectofsomecontroversy. Evans pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch) and settled for
(1932) gave a range of Shimla (Himachal overaminute,allowingitselftobeobservedwell.
Pradesh) to Burma (=Myanmar). Subsequent However, itwasnotpossibletoobservetherecto
authors, including Wynter-Blyth (1957) and surface and the diagnostic red basal area on the
Lewis (1973) gave a range ofNepal to Assam, hindwingrecto. Itmightthereforehavebeenthe
Burma, Malaysia andthe Eastern Ghats ofIndia RedbaseJezebelDeliaspasithoeL.,althoughthis
forthe species. is unlikely.
Wynter-Blyth (op. cit.) noted “Evans (op. The next sighting was in Jones Estate in
cit.) gives Shimla as a locality forthis butterfly, theBhimtalvalleyonApril21, 1998 ataneleva-
butthis is notconfirmedbythefauna of British tion of 1,500 m. A rather worn specimen was
india norhas the authoranyrecordofits capture attracted to blossoms ofBauhinia vcireigata L.
there. Ifhis record is correct, itwill presumably Byastrokeofluck,itsailedacrossaterracebelow
also be found in Garhwal and Kumaon.” me, soitwaspossibletoclearly see theredbasal
Recently, I have seenthisbutterflyonfive area on the hindwing recto. It was certainly
occasions in Kumaon. The first time was on Delias acalis.
November 9, 1997 in a garden in the H.M.T. The third sighting was 10 km north ofthe
Colony in Ranibagh near Haldwani at an townofRudrapurintheTerai, atanelevation of
298 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2), AUG. 2001