Rakthamichthys indicus
(Eapen 1963) Britz, Dahanukar, Standing, Philip, Kumar, and Raghavan 2020
ORDER | SUB-ORDER | FAMILY |
---|---|---|
Synbranchiformes | Synbranchoidei | Synbranchidae |
Synonyms
Monopterus indicus Eapen 1963
Monopterus “indicus” Eapen 1963 (by Rosen and Greenwood 1976)
Monopterus eapeni Talwar 1991
Country
IndiaTypes
Eapen based the description on a syntype series of five animals 130mm ‑ 162mm TL. The location of these specimens is unknown and they may be lost. Rosen and Greenwood (1976), in their thorough review and revision of synbranchiform fishes, did not examine this species because they could not obtain any specimens of it.
Distribution
Known only from the type‑locality, a 30 foot (10m) deep well at Kottayam, Kerala State, India (9o30’N, 76o30’E). This is also the type locality of Horaglanis krishnai and the two species coexist.
Habitat
The only published details are that the fish is found in dug-out wells. It may be an inhabitant of relatively small groundwater voids. Francy Kakkassery (pers. comm.) suggests that they live in the water table up to 10m below the surface and that they are only found where laterite is the predominant bed deposit.
Systematics
During their revision of the synbranchiform fishes Rosen and Greenwood (1976) examined specimens of Amphipnous indicus Silas and Dawson 1961. They were of the opinion that it was a member of the genus Monopterus. This created a case of homonymy with indicus Silas and Dawson predating indicus Eapen. Because they were unable to examine specimens of indicus Eapen, and determine its relationships within the Synbranchiformes, they decided against nomenclatural action and referred to the species as Monopterus “indicus”. Subsequently Talwar (in Talwar and Jhingran 1992) provided a replacement name for M. “indicus” Eapen and called it M. eapeni. Britz et al. (2016) state that external similarity to West African Monopterus species suggests that M. eapeni might be a member of the ‘Amphipnous group’ within Monopterus.
Conservation Status
TLO [DD:3.1:2011]
(Raghavan, R. and Ali, A. 2011. Monopterus eapeni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T172399A6884086.en. Downloaded on 06 July 2017). DD (IUCN, 1996, 2000). Since this species is known only from its type locality it is VU D2 at least. Dahanukar, Raut and Bhat (2004) assess this species as Critically Endangered but with any explanation of how they arrive at this status.
Museum Holdings
None known.
Key References
- Eapen, K. C. (1963)
- Rosen, D. E. and Greenwood, P. H. (1976)
- Mercy, T.V.A. (1981)
- Mercy, T.V.A. (1981)
- Mercy, T.V.A. (1982)
- Mercy, T.V.A., Padmanabhan, K.G. and Pillai, N.K. (1982)
- Mercy, T.V.A. (1983)
- Mercy, T.V A., Pillai, N.K. and Balasubramonian, N.K. (1984)
- Mercy, T.V.A. and Pillai, N.K. (1984/5)
- Talwar, P. K. and Jhingran, A. G. (1992)
- Bailey, R M. and Gans, C. (1998)
- Mercy, T.V.A. (2000)
- Ponniah, A.G. and Gopalakrishnan, A. (2000)
- Mercy, T.V.A. and Pillai, N.K. (2001)
- Mercy, T.V.A., Pillai, N.K. and Balasubramonian, N.K. (2001)
- Ranjit Daniels, R.J. (2001)
- Biju, S.D. and Bossuyt, F. (2003)
- Dahanukar, N., Raut, R. and Bhat, A. (2004)
- Kurup B.M. Radhakrishnan K.V. and Manojkumar T.G. (2004)
- Bossuyt, F., Meegaskumbura, M., Beenaerts, N., Gower, D.J., Pethiyagoda, R., Roelants, K., Mannaert, A., Wilkinson, M., Bahir, M.M., Manamendra-Arachchi, K., Ng, P.K.L., Schneider, C.K., Oommen, O.V. and Milinkovitch, M.C. (2004)
- Roelants, K., Jiang, J. and Bossuyt, F. (2004)
- Gunawardene, N.R. et al. (2007)
- Subhash Babu, K.K. and Sivasankaran, B.N. (2010)
- Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Ali, A., Abraham, R. and Shaji, C.P. (2011)
- Britz, R., Lalremsanga, H.T., Lalrotluanga and Lalramliana (2011)
- Paingankar, M.S., Katwate, U. and Dahanukar, N. (2014)
- Raghavan, R.., Das, K.., Nameer, P.O., Bijukumar, A. and Dahanukar, N. (2016)
- Britz, R., Doherty-Bone, T.M., Kouete, M.T., Sykes, D. and Gower, D.J. (2016)
- Varma, A. (2017)
- Pavan-Kumar, A. (2017)
- Britz, R., Sykes, D., Gower, D.J. & Kamei, R.G. (2018)
- De Grave, S., Arjun, C.P. and Raghavan, R. (2018)
- Britz, R., Anoop, V.K., Dahanukar, H. and Raghavan, R. (2019)
- Anoop, V.K., Britz, R., Arjun, C.P., Dahanukar, N. and Raghavan, R. (2019)
- Britz, R., Dahanukar, N., Anoop, V.K., Philip, S., Clark, B., Raghavan, R. and Rüber, L. (2020)
- Britz, R., Sudasinghe, H., Sykes, D. and Tharindu Ranasinghe, R.H. (2020)
- Sidharthan, A., Raghavan, R., Anoop, V.K., Philip. S. and Dahanukar, N. (2020)
- Raghavan, R., Britz, R. and Dahanukar, N. (2021)
Eapen, K. C. | Journal Article | 1963 | A new species of Monopterus from South India |
Rosen, D. E. and Greenwood, P. H. | Journal Article | 1976 | A fourth neotropical species of synbranchid eel and the phylogeny and systematics of synbranchiform fishes |
Mercy, T.V.A. | Journal Article | 1981 | On the unique disposition of the valvula cerebelli in Horaglanis krishnai (Teleostei) |
Mercy, T.V.A. | Thesis | 1981 | Biology of the blind catfish of Kerala, Horaglanis krishnai Menon |
Mercy, T.V.A. | Journal Article | 1982 | On the presence of a forked barbel in the blind catfish Horaglanis krishnai Menon |
Mercy, T.V.A., Padmanabhan, K.G. and Pillai, N.K. | Journal Article | 1982 | Morphological studies on the oocytes of the blind catfish Horaglanis krishnai Menon |
Mercy, T.V.A. | Journal Article | 1983 | Studies on the air bladder of blind clariid Horaglanis krishnai Menon |
Mercy, T.V A., Pillai, N.K. and Balasubramonian, N.K. | Journal Article | 1984 | Studies on the oxygen consumption of the blind catfish Horaglanis krishnai |
Mercy, T.V.A. and Pillai, N.K. | Journal Article | 1984/5 | The anatomy and histology of the alimentary tract of the blind cat-fish Horaglanis krishnai |
Talwar, P. K. and Jhingran, A. G. | Book Section | 1992 | Monopterus (Monopterus) eapeni Talwar, nova nom |
Bailey, R M. and Gans, C. | Journal Article | 1998 | Two new synbranchid fishes, Monopterus roseni from penisular India and M. desilvai from Sri Lanka |
Mercy, T.V.A. | Book Section | 2000 | Biology of an endemic blind catfish Horaglanis krishnai Menon |
Ponniah, A.G. and Gopalakrishnan, A. | Book | 2000 | Endemic fish diversity of Western Ghats |
Mercy, T.V.A. and Pillai, N.K. | Journal Article | 2001 | Studies on the cranial osteology of the blind catfish Horaglanis krishnai menon (Pisces, Clariidae) |
Mercy, T.V.A., Pillai, N.K. and Balasubramonian, N.K. | Journal Article | 2001 | Studies on certain aspects of behaviour in the blind catfish Horaglanis krishnia Menon |
Ranjit Daniels, R.J. | Journal Article | 2001 | Endemic fishes of the Western Ghats and the Satpura hypothesis |
Biju, S.D. and Bossuyt, F. | Journal Article | 2003 | New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles |
Dahanukar, N., Raut, R. and Bhat, A. | Journal Article | 2004 | Distribution, endemism and threat status of freshwater fishes of the Western Ghats of India |
Kurup B.M. Radhakrishnan K.V. and Manojkumar T.G. | Conference Paper | 2004 | Biodiversity status of fishes inhabiting rivers of Kerala (S. India) with special reference to endemism, threats and conservation measures |
Bossuyt, F., Meegaskumbura, M., Beenaerts, N., Gower, D.J., Pethiyagoda, R., Roelants, K., Mannaert, A., Wilkinson, M., Bahir, M.M., Manamendra-Arachchi, K., Ng, P.K.L., Schneider, C.K., Oommen, O.V. and Milinkovitch, M.C. | Journal Article | 2004 | Local endemism within the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot |
Roelants, K., Jiang, J. and Bossuyt, F. | Journal Article | 2004 | Endemic ranid (Amphibia: Anura) genera in southern mountain ranges of the Indian subcontinent represent ancient frog lineages: evidence from molecular data |
Gunawardene, N.R. et al. | Journal Article | 2007 | A brief overview of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot |
Subhash Babu, K.K. and Sivasankaran, B.N. | Conference Paper | 2010 | The hypogean fauna of selected ecosystems of Kerala, India, with two new records |
Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Ali, A., Abraham, R. and Shaji, C.P. | Book Section | 2011 | Chapter 3. The status and distribution of freshwater fishes of the Western Ghats |
Britz, R., Lalremsanga, H.T., Lalrotluanga and Lalramliana | Journal Article | 2011 | Monopterus ichthyophoides, a new species of scaled swamp eel (Teleostei: Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae) from Mizoram, India |
Paingankar, M.S., Katwate, U. and Dahanukar, N. | Journal Article | 2014 | A creepy fish of the northern Western Ghats: endemic and threatened Swamp Eel Monopterus indicus |
Raghavan, R.., Das, K.., Nameer, P.O., Bijukumar, A. and Dahanukar, N. | Journal Article | 2016 | Protected area and imperriled endemic freshwater biodiversity in the Westren Ghats hotspot |
Britz, R., Doherty-Bone, T.M., Kouete, M.T., Sykes, D. and Gower, D.J. | Journal Article | 2016 | Monopterus luticolus, a new species of swamp eel from Cameroon (Teleostei: Synbranchidae) |
Varma, A. | Book | 2017 | Groundwater resource and governance in Kerala: status issues and prospects |
Pavan-Kumar, A. | Journal Article | 2017 | Molecular phylogeny of genus Horaglanis (Indian blind catfishes) within Family Clariidae |
Britz, R., Sykes, D., Gower, D.J. & Kamei, R.G. | Journal Article | 2018 | Monopterus rongsaw, a new species of hypogean swamp eel from the Khasi Hills in Northeast India (Teleostei: Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae). |
De Grave, S., Arjun, C.P. and Raghavan, R. | Journal Article | 2018 | The discovery of Euryrhynchidae (Crustacea: Decapoda) in India, with the description of a new genus and species |
Britz, R., Anoop, V.K., Dahanukar, H. and Raghavan, R. | Journal Article | 2019 | The subterranean Aenigmachanna gollum, a new genus and species of snakehead (Teleostei: Channidae) from Kerala, India |
Anoop, V.K., Britz, R., Arjun, C.P., Dahanukar, N. and Raghavan, R. | Journal Article | 2019 | Pangio bhujia, a new, peculiar species of miniature subterranean eel loach lacking dorsal and pelvic fins from India (Teleostei: Cobitidae) |
Britz, R., Dahanukar, N., Anoop, V.K., Philip, S., Clark, B., Raghavan, R. and Rüber, L. | Journal Article | 2020 | Aenigmachannidae, a new family of snakehead fishes (Teleostei: Channoidei) from subterranean waters of South India |
Britz, R., Sudasinghe, H., Sykes, D. and Tharindu Ranasinghe, R.H. | Journal Article | 2020 | Ophichthys desilvai, a poorly known synbranchid eel from Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Synbranchidae) |
Sidharthan, A., Raghavan, R., Anoop, V.K., Philip. S. and Dahanukar, N. | Journal Article | 2020 | Riddle on the riffle: Miocene diversification and biogeography of endemic mountain loaches in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot |
Raghavan, R., Britz, R. and Dahanukar, N. | Journal Article | 2021 | Poor groundwater governance threatens ancient subterranean fishes |