Red Canarese Barb

Hypselobarbus thomassi, Eng. Red Canarese Barb or Nilgiri Shark is a large barb species, which is endemic only in India.

Occurrence

Your original occurrence was limited to the Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala. It inhabits large rivers and streams such as the Netravati and Periyar river below the Western Ghats. Their occurrence is limited to an area of 11,675 km ². 2004, a specimen was caught in an extensive search in this region only.

Description

Due to their similar appearance H. thomassi can easily be confused with the Mahseer. The body of the fish has a silvery ground color with orange tones, the fins have bluish to black colors. It reaches a maximum length of one meter. The biggest specimen of Hypselobarbus thomassi with a weight of 30 kg was caught in a body of water in the Western Ghats.

Way of life

Over the life of Hypselobarbus thomassi nothing more is known.

System

Synonyms of Hypselobarbus thomassi are Barbus thomassi, Gonoproktopterus thomassi and Puntius thomassi. Other species of the genus Hypselobarbus are:

• Hypselobarbus curmuca
• Hypselobarbus dobsoni
• Hypselobarbus dubius
• Hypselobarbus jerdoni
• Hypselobarbus Kolus
• Hypselobarbus Kuralias
• Hypselobarbus lithopidos
• Hypselobarbus micropogon
• Hypselobarbus periyarensis
• Hypselobarbus pulchellus

Benefit and risk status

Hypselobarbus thomassi is of little economic importance and as a food fish of lesser value. The species is considered threatened in their existence as strongly influenced by anthropogenic environmental change such as deforestation, intensification of agriculture, plantations, mining, urban growth and the construction of dams. Popular due to their size and weight, Hypselobarbus thomassi was also overfished. To date, few attempts have been made to save the existence of the species, along the river Chalakudi there are efforts to obtain at least a portion of the riverine forests.