Puntius mahecola

Drawing from Fauna of British India. Fishes by Francis Day.

The Mahecola -Barbe ( Puntius mahecola ) is a freshwater fish of the carp family (Cyprinidae ). It is endemic in southern India before in the state of Kerala.

Features

The Mahecola -Barbe is 9 inches long. Your body height is 27 to 32 % of standard length. It resembles the occurring in the same area black spot barbel ( Puntius filamentosus ) differs from it and from other Puntius species in the region mainly through the smooth last simple dorsal fin ray, the missing Filamentverlängerungen the divided dorsal fin rays, the Bartel pair in the upper jaw and the dandruff formula.

• Fins formula: Dorsal: 3/ 8 ½; Anal: 3/ 5 ½; Pectoral: 1/ 14, Ventral: 1 / 8th
• Dandruff formula: SL 22-23 1-3.

The Mahecola -Barbe is olive color on the dorsal side, silvery with a rosy glow to the body sides and has a whitish belly. A black, elongated and horizontally lying spot is located on the rear half of the body to the end of the anal fin. He is about 1 ½ times as long as high and has a height which extends over 3 ½ scales. He sometimes extends to the tail fin shaft. Dorsal, caudal and anal fins are yellowish in females, reddish in males, the edges of the dorsal fin sometimes gray. Breast and pelvic fins are transparent. The forked tail fin ever a black spot at the tips below that is a red spot. Male Mahecola -Barbe have a pink spot on the gill cover.

Way of life

The Mahecola -Barbe comes in slow-flowing waters with mud or sand bottom in front of the coastal plains of Kerala. It is nowhere common.