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Maharaja Barbs (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), endemic to the high-altitude streams of the northern Western Ghats are currently represented by a single species, Puntius sahyadriensis. Integrative taxonomic analysis of these fishes reveals them to form a distinct clade within the Cyprinidae, for which we propose the name Waikhomia gen. nov. Waikhomia differs from Puntius and other closely related genera by a combination of characters including: barbels absent; last unbranched dorsal-fin ray smooth, with highly segmented apex; total vertebrae 30 (17 abdominal and 13 caudal); post-epiphysial fontanelle absent, frontals elongated, parietals narrow; infraorbital 2–4 large, deep and wide, overlapping cheek and preopercle; opercle not overlapping the interopercle laterally; free uroneural 2 absent; lateral line complete, with 23–25 perforated scales; pelvic fins jet black with tip of fins white; and body coloration consisting of multiple (6–8) spots and blotches on side of body. We also describe a new species of Waikhomia from the west-flowing Kali river system in the northern part of the Western Ghats, India. The new species, Waikhomia hira is distinguished from W. sahyadriensis by a combination of characters including a distinct body coloration, consisting of 7–8 small, rhomboidal spots arranged across the lateral-line scale row; 23­–25 perforated lateral line scales; 10 pre-dorsal scales and 2–3 sparsely spaced gill rakers on epibranchial 1. Further, W. hira differs from its sister taxon, W. sahyadriensis, by a raw genetic distance ranging from 4.3–4.9% in partial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, and 7.0–8.2% in partial cytochrome b genes.

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Pethia sanjaymoluri, a new cyprinid, is described from the Pavana and Nira tributaries of Bhima River, Krishna drainage, Maharashtra, India. It can be distinguished from congeners by a combination of characteristics that includes an incomplete lateral line, absence of barbels, upper lip thick and fleshy, 23-25 lateral series scales, 7-12 lateral-line pored scales, 10 predorsal scales, 11-14 prepelvic scales, 17-20 pre-anal scales, 4½ scales between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line, four scales between lateral line and pelvic-fin origin, 8-15 pairs of serrae on distal half of dorsal-fin spine, 12-14 branched pectoral-fin rays, 4 + 26 total vertebrae, 4 + 5 predorsal vertebrae, 4 + 13 abdominal vertebrae, 13 caudal vertebrae and a unique colour pattern comprising a humeral spot positioned below the lateral line and encompassing the third and fourth lateral-line scales and one scale below, one caudal spot on 17th-21st lateral-line scales with a yellow hue on its anterior side and apical half of dorsal fin studded with melanophores making the fin tip appear black. Genetic analysis based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence suggests that the species is distinct from other known species of Pethia for which data are available.

Small, least conspicuous fish species are targeted through subsistence fisheries in many regions of the world, but little is known about their population dynamics or exploitation levels. In the Western Ghats of India, part of a global biodiversity hotspot and an exceptional region of freshwater fish diversity and endemism, several small species of loaches are caught and sold in the local markets by marginalized communities through an unmanaged fishery, resulting in high levels of exploitation. Of particular concern is the fishery for the spiny loach, Lepidocephalichthys thermalis whose exploitation rates at various sites in the northern part of the Western Ghats region were observed to be greater than their E 50 (exploitation rate where the stock is reduced to half its virgin biomass). A comparison of various fishing sites showed that populations in the high anthropogenic impact areas (located close to urban settlements with high human population density, and impacted by various threats, i.e. introduced species, pollution) are exploited at a rate greater than 86% of their E max (exploitation producing maximum yield). The first quantitative information on population dynamics and exploitation levels of small indigenous fish species in tropical rivers indicates their potential vulnerability to over fishing, and is an important starting point for further investigations into similar fisheries in other regions of Asia and Africa.

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A new species of the cyprinid genus Pethia is described from the Hiranyakeshi, a tributary of the Krishna River system in the Western Ghats mountain ranges of peninsular India. The new species, Pethia sahit, is syntopic—and shoals together—with Pethia longicauda, a species described recently from the same river. Pethia sahit is distinguished from P. longicauda and its congeners by a combination of characters like, incomplete lateral line with 3–6 pored scales; 19–22 scales in lateral series; 4½ scales between dorsal-fin origin and lateral-line row and 2½ scales between lateral line row and pelvic-fin origin; intercalated scale row originates above and after the 6th scale of the lateral-line scale row; dorsal fin originating behind the pelvic-fin origin; 4+13 abdominal and 12 caudal vertebrae; dorsal, pectoral, pelvic, anal and caudal fins without any bands or spots, deep yellow-orange in color or deep red with a pale tint of orange in mature males; a dark-black vertically elongate humeral spot, overlapping the 4th lateral-line scale, extending over the base of one scale above and below the 4th scale; caudal peduncle spot dark, covering 14th–16th scales in lateral-line scale row. Genetic analysis based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene indicates that P. sahit and P. longicauda are not sister taxa. Further, P. sahit has no genetically proximate congener in the Western Ghats region, and differs from known congeners from south and southeast Asia, for which genetic data are available, with genetic distance ranging from 11.8–16.4%.

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