The identity of the Sri Lankan Amblypharyngodon (Teleostei, Cyprinidae)

Abstract

Morphological and molecular analyses of specimens representative of the geographic range of the cyprinid genus Amblypharyngodon in Sri Lanka suggest the presence of only a single species in the island, for which the name Amblypharyngodongrandisquamis Jordan & Starks, 1917, is available. Amblypharyngodongrandisquamis is a species endemic to Sri Lanka, distributed across the lowlands of both of the island’s main climatic zones. It is distinguished from all other species of Amblypharyngodon, including the three species recorded from peninsular India (A.mola, A.microlepis, and A.melettinus), by a suite of characters that includes a body depth of 26.9–31.2% of the standard length (SL), 42–56 scales in the lateral series (of which usually 8–16 are pored), 20–24 circumpeduncular scales, 14–17 scale rows between the origins of the dorsal and pelvic fins, a dorsal-fin height of 21.1–27.6% SL, 18–19 caudal vertebrae and an eye diameter of 22.7–30.5% of the head length. Amblypharyngodongrandisquamis differs from A.melettinus and A.mola by uncorrected pairwise genetic distances of more than 9% and 6%, respectively, for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene.

Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater-fish genus Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

“…We suspect this species may have a closer phylogenetic relationship to a lineage from peninsular India that is not represented in our dataset. Similar relationships have been observed for other freshwater fishes widespread in the dry zone of Sri Lanka [ 40 – 42 ] with few exceptions [ 43 ].…”

Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the South Asian freshwater‐fish genus Puntius (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

“…Both taxonomy and elucidation of the relationships between the Indian and Sri Lankan populations of these species, however, have been handicapped by the unavailability of samples from India. More comprehensive sampling, especially in the poorly surveyed south‐eastern drainages of the Indian peninsula, would facilitate a clearer understanding of the dispersal of aquatic organisms across the Palk Isthmus (Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, Maduwage, et al, 2019; Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, Meegaskumbura, 2019; Sudasinghe et al, 2020b; Sudasinghe et al, 2020).…”

A molecular phylogeny of the freshwater‐fish genusRasbora(Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka reveals a remarkable diversification—And a cryptic species

“…Regrettably, these specimens, including NMSL WHT 7671A, which they designated as neotype, are no longer available for examination. With very few exceptions (Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, Maduwage, & Meegaskumbura, 2019), the fishes of the arid southeastern plains of the Indian peninsula are shared with the northwestern dry zone of Sri Lanka (Sudasinghe, Adamson, et al, 2020; Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, & Meegaskumbura, 2019; Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, Meegaskumbura, Maduwage, & Britz, 2020). In the absence of specimens or tissue of R. microcephalus from India, however, we are unable to infer whether the Indian and Sri Lankan populations of this species are conspecific or a result of convergence.…”

“…Unlike R. dandia , R. microcephalus has not been reported from the Western Ghats and the west‐flowing drainages of South India. In Sri Lanka, R. microcephalus is recorded primarily from the northern dry zone and the lowland flood plains of the southwest wet zone (Figure 1); the ichthyofauna of the former is a subset of that of the southeast Indian plains, which was until the Holocene hydrologically connected to Sri Lanka's northwestern plain during successive sea‐level low‐stands (Pethiyagoda, 1991; Sudasinghe, Adamson, et al, 2020; Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, & Meegaskumbura, 2019; Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, et al, 2020; Sudasinghe, Ranasinghe, et al, 2018), albeit with a few exceptions (Sudasinghe, Pethiyagoda, Maduwage, et al, 2019).…”