A review of the catfish genus Hara, with the description of four new species (Siluriformes: Erethistidae)

Abstract

A review of the catfish genus Hara, with the description of four new species (Siluriformes: Erethistidae). -Species of the erethistid catfish genus Hara are reviewed in this study. Eight species are recognized: Hara filamentosa, H. hara, H. horai, H. jerdoni, H. longissima, H. mesembrina, H. minuscula, and H. spinulus, of which the latter four are described as new herein. Erethistes maesotensis is a junior synonym of Hara filamentosa, and H. saharsai and H. serrata junior synonyms of H. hara. A neotype is designated for H. filamentosa Blyth, 1860 and a lectotype is designated for Hara horai Misra, 1976.

Akysis pulvinatus, a new species of catfish (Siluriformes: Akysidae) from southern Thailand

“…The freshwater fish fauna of this region is traditionally thought to be identical to that of the rest of the Malay Peninsula (Kottelat, 1989). Recent collections from this region (the western half of which includes the southern tip of the Tenasserim range) have suggested otherwise, also yielding an undescribed species of Hara (currently being described in another study; Ng & Kottelat, 2007). Considerable endemism may exist in this region and more comprehensive surveys are needed.…”

Danio aesculapii, a new species of danio from south-western Myanmar (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

“…The fish fauna of the western slope of the Rakhine Yoma includes several endemic species of fishes, most of them described only recently. They are the cyprinids Puntius binduchitra and Danio feegradei (Hora, 1937), Garra vitttatula, G. rakhinica, G. flavatra, and G. propulvinus (Kullander & Fang, 2004), the bagrid catfish Batasio elongatus (Ng, 2004), the erethistid catfish Hara spinulus (Ng & Kottelat, 2007), the akysid catfish Akysis vespertinus (Ng, 2008), and the channid Channa pulchra (Britz, 2007). We have also identified an endemic species of Puntius as well as one more undescribed species of Danio, and one undescribed species of Devario.…”

A new catfish, Hara koladynensis from northeastern India (Siluriformes: Erethistidae)

“…Measurements were made on the left side of specimens with dial calipers to the nearest 0.1mm following Ng & Kottelat (2007). Head length (HL) and measurements of body parts are presented as proportions of standard length (SL) and subunits of head as of head length (HL).…”

“…It is also characterized in having coracoid with ventral anterior process, pectoral spine with serrated anterior margin, antero-ventral flange on the ventral surface of the complex centrum and the parapophysis of the fifth vertebra with a vertical lamina (de Pinna 1996). The genus includes small to medium sized catfishes having brown cryptic colouration and heavily tuberculate skin inhabiting hill streams in the subhimalayan region and western Indochina (Ng & Kottelat 2007). Hamilton (1822) described Pimelodus hara from Hooghly River, India.…”

“…Misra (1976) described H. horai from Terai and Duars, West Bengal. Ng & Kottelat (2007) described H. longissima, H. minuscula and H. spinulus from Myanmar and H. mesembrina, H. filamentosa from Thailand. They also treated H. saharsai Munshi & Srivastava (1988) and H. serrata Vishwanath & Kosygin (2000) as junior synonyms of H. hara.…”