Metadata

Pangio pathala

Sundar, Arjun, Sidharthan, Dahanukar and Raghavan 2022

Pangio pathala
Living Pangio pathala. From Sundar et al. (2022) and used with the permission of Rajeev Raghavan
ORDERSUB-ORDERFAMILY
CypriniformesCobitoidei Cobitidae

Synonyms

None.

The species name is based on the Sanskrit word pâtâla, which means ‘below the feet’, denoting the subterranean realms of the universe—which are located under the earth’s surface. A noun in apposition.

Country

India

Types

Holotype: KUFOS.FT.2020.1, 32.1 mm SL.

Paratypes: KUFOS.FT.2020.2, 18.9 mm SL, KUFOS.FT.2020.3, 22.3 mm SL.

Distribution

Known only from the type locality: Thiruvanvandoor, Kerala State, India (9°20’23.09”N, 76°34’48.54”E), 7 m asl. See map below.

Habitat

In common with other subterranean fishes in the area (Horaglanis krishnai, H. alikunhii, H. abdulkalami, Kryptoglanis shajii, Kryptoglanis undet, Rakthamichthys indicus, R. roseni, R. digressus and Aenigmachanna gollum) this species probably inhabits very small openings within the laterite aquifer. These are probably of the order of 5-10cm maximum diameter though there may well me many kilometers of tunnels overall. Animals are only seen, and sampled, via man-made well used for water-supply purposes.

Systematics

The two subterranean Pangio species are each others sister species (see below). Britz, Ali and Raghavan 2012 described the epigean Pangio ammophila from the Western Ghats. A phylogenetic tree of the genus Pangio, based on mitochondrial co1 gene, given in Sundar et al. (2022) shows that P. ammophila is the sister species to a clade composed of the two subterranean Pangio species, P. bhujia and P. pathala. It seems very likley that either P. ammophila is the direct ancestor of both subterranen species, or that all three of these are derived from a fourth, so far unknown, species.

Conservation Status

TLO [NE]

Museum Holdings

As above only.

Internet Resources

P. bhujia Genbank COI

P. bhujia Genbank COI

P. bhujia Genbank COI

P. pathala Genbank COI

P. ammophila Genbank COI

P. ammophila Genbank COI

Pangio bhujia Fishbase species account

Key References

Bohlen, J., Šlechtová, V., Tan, H.H. and Britz, R. Journal Article 2011 Phylogeny of the Southeast Asian freshwater fish genus Pangio (Cypriniformes; Cobitidae)
Britz, R., Ali, A. and Raghavan, R. Journal Article 2012 Pangio ammophila, a new species of eel-loach from Karnataka, southern India (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitidae)
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
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)
Sundar, R.L., Arjun, C.P., Sidharthan, A., Dahanukar, N. and Raghavan, R. Journal Article 2022 A new diminutive subterranean eel loach species of the genus Pangio (Teleostei: Cobitidae) from Southern India
Distribution map of subterranean Pangio species in Kerala, India. From Sundar et al. (2022) and with the permission of Rajeev Raghavan
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of the genus Pangio based on mitochondrial co1 gene. Lepidocephalichthys thermalis is used as outgroup. Values along the nodes are percentage bootstraps based on 1000 iterations. From Sundar et al. (2022) and with the permission of Rajeev Raghavan