Maharashtra’s 1st record of spotted sail barb fish in Jalgaon dist

Nagpur: Three researchers have come out with the first record of spotted sail barb (Pethia phutunio) fish in Waghur river backwaters in Jalgaon.
Waghur river near Kandari and Varadsim in Jalgaon district is one of the rivers that flow into the Tapti basin. The freshwater fish, also known as Jhirmoti in local parlance, was recorded by researchers Gaurav Shinde, Balkrishna Devre, and Kalpesh Tayde of Vanyajeev Sanrakshan Sanstha (VJSS), Jalgaon.
Well-known fish taxonomist Balaji Vijaykrishnan told TOI that this is the first record of spotted sail barb in Maharashtra. The fish was recorded in West Bengal and Assam and later in Chennai.
VJSS is into research activities to conserve bird species, insects and butterflies for the last 14 years. The team has so far recorded 34 fish species. But the spotted sail barb was never recorded. In 2012, a journal published by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) listed 216 freshwater fishes in Maharashtra. “The spotted sail barb doesn’t find its name in the checklist,” says Shinde.
Shinde, a fish biologist who is a researcher with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), said the spotted sail barb was discovered by Hamilton in 1822 in the northeastern part of West Bengal. “Earlier this fish was found only in the Ganges and Brahmaputra and their tributaries. In 2015, it was found in Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
“VJSS has been trying to identify the aquatic life in Tapi and its tributaries for the past three years while exploring the Waghur river. This fish was found in the aquatic vegetation of the Waghur dam. We found that this species is more popular with fish aquariums,” he said.
The fish has a conical head and the fins are pale orange. This colour is slightly darker in males and its length is around 3.5cm to 5 cm. The research was also published in Taprobanica, an Indonesia-based journal of Asian biodiversity in November.
The common habitat of spotted sail barb includes rivers, streams, pools, and surrounding areas. Besides, it can also inhabit muddy waters.
Devre called for more research on the fish. Not many opt for studies in this field. The last research on fishes in the Jalgaon district was done by ZSI in 1987.