https://recordsofzsi.com/index.php/zsoi ... iew/172625
Keywords: Diminutive catfish, freshwater, North-Eastern India, PseudolaguviaAbstract
Northeastern India, a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, is blessed with five different drainage systems, viz. the Brahmaputra, the Barak-Surma-Meghana, the Chindwin, the Kaladan and the Karnaphuli. The colourful diminutive catfishes of the genus Pseudolaguvia are one of the representative freshwater fish fauna of the region. The routine studies on the collected fishes from various rivers of northeastern India since 2017 to date have revealed the distribution of 16 species under the genus Pseudolaguvia, which can be characterised into two groups based on the presence or absence of serrations on the anterior edges of the dorsal spine. Of the 16 species of Pseudolaguvia in the region, 12 species are categorised under the species group with smooth edges on the anterior dorsal spine, whereas the remaining four species are under the second category of the group with serrated edges on the anterior dorsal spine. The Brahmaputra River system has a maximum diversity of Pseudolaguvia with 11 species; the Barak-Surma-Meghna River systems have 3 species, while the Karnaphuli and the Kaladan River systems have one species each.