New species of fish found in the Western Ghats

Ecologists have discovered a new species of fish called Pethia striata in Tunga River in the Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka. The male of the species measures 3-4cm in length and is red in colour, while the female is grey with a striking pattern of scales. The discovery of the new species was published in the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists by researchers from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) . V. M. Atkore, an ecologist working in the Western Ghats for the last four years, had chosen Kudremukh National Park for sampling as no one had studied it before. “I had conducted pilot surveys in 2010-11 and was familiar with fish in the region. But this fish that I found in the park was different and after I sent a photo to my superior, it was confirmed this was new,” said Atkore, a PhD student at the Bangalore-based Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, ATREE. Akore took measurements and photographs of male and female species which had striking colours and body patterns. The species was distinct in several ways, but the most striking characteristics were the pattern of scales which form oblique bars and the black blotch just before the tail. “The ring is particularly apparent in both male and female and is distinct in -READ MORE -http://www.livemint.com/Politics/z8OW9mbQQ5UzE2qqRj0FHO/New-species-of-fish-found-in-the-Western-Ghats.html