Puntius Sanctus: a new freshwater fish found in Velankanni
Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-III – Agriculture
In News:
- Recently, Puntius Sanctus, a new freshwater fish, has been found in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu.
- It was found in a small waterbody.
Image source: The Hindu
Key takeaways
- Sanctus means holy (pilgrim town) in Latin.
- Species of Puntius are known from India mainly from the Western and Eastern Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas.
- Puntius Genus:
- The genus shows great species richness in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- The species are known locally as Paral in kerala and Kende in Tamil Nadu.
- It belongs to the family ‘Cyprinidae’.
- Puntius Sanctus:
- It is a silver-hued fish.
- It grows only upto to a length of 7 cm.
- It is different from other species in terms of protractible (extended) mouth and a pair of maxillary barbels (a sensory organ near the snout).
- Family Cyprinidae:
- It is the family of freshwater fish.
- It includes the minnows, goldfish, bitterlings, barbs, and carps.
- It ranges from small aquarium sized species to huge fish.
- Puntius Sanctus has been deposited in the Zoological Survey of India at Pune.
- It has also been registered with Zoo Bank of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, the official authority for naming animals.
