Mahseer

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Mahseer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Teleostomi Superorder: Ostariophysi Order: Cypriniformes Suborder: Cyprinoidei Family: Cyprinidae Subfamily: Cyprininae
Genera
Tor Neolissochilus Naziritor See text for species.

Mahseer is the common name used for the genera Tor, Neolissochilus, and Naziritor in the family Cyprinidae (carps). Sen and Jayaram (1982) reviewed the literature on Mahseer in India and restricted the term 'Mahseer' to members of the genus Tor. They range from Malaysia, Indonesia, across southern Asia to Pakistan, including the Indian Peninsula (Menon, 1992; Roberts, 1999; Mohindra et al., 2007). They are commercially important game fish, as well as highly esteemed food fish. Mahseer fetch high market price, and are potential candidate species for aquaculture (Ogale, 2002). Several of the larger species have suffered severe declines, and are now considered threatened due to pollution, habitat loss and overfishing.

The taxonomy of the mahseers is confusing due to the morphological variations they exhibit. In developing strategies for aquaculture and propagation assisted rehabilitation of mahseer species, there is a need to resolve taxonomic ambiguities (Mohindra et al., 2007).

Mahseers inhabit both rivers and lakes, ascending to rapid streams with rocky bottoms for breeding. Like other types of carps, they are omnivorous, eating not only algae, crustaceans, insects, frogs, and other fish, but also fruits that fall from trees overhead.

The first species from this group were scientifically described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, and first mentioned as an angling challenge by the Oriental Sporting Magazine in 1833, soon becoming a favorite quarry of British anglers living in India. The golden mahseer has been known to reach 2.75 m (9 ft) in length and 54 kg (118 lb) in weight, although specimens of this size are rarely seen nowadays. In addition to being caught for sport, mahseer are also part of commercial fishing and ornamental or aquarium fish.

[edit] Etymology

The Hindi name of mahāsir, mahāser, or mahāsaulā is used for a number of fishes of the group. British anglers in India called them the Indian salmon. Several sources of the common name mahseer have been suggested: It has been said to be derived from Sanskrit, while other say it is derived from Indo-Persian, as it means tiger of waters (or alternatively big-head) in Persian. Alternatively, mahā-śalka, meaning large-scaled, as the scales are so large that Buchanan mentions that playing cards were made from them at Dacca. Mr. H. S. Thomas suggests mahā-āsya; great mouth.^[1]

[edit] Species

Sen and Jayaram (1982) reviewed the literature on Mahseer in India and restricted the term 'Mahseer' to members of the genus Tor. how ever the few species of Genus Neolissochilus and two species of Genus Naziritor are also called as Mahseers due to there big size.

• Genus Tor (genus):
  • Tor ater, Roberts, 1999
  • Tor barakae, Arunkumar & Basudha, 2003 , Barakae mahseer
  • Tor douronensis, (Valenciennes, 1842, Malaysian mahseer or River carp
  • Tor hemispinus, Chen & Chu, 1985
  • Tor kulkarnii, Menon, 1992, Dwarf mahseer uncertain only one specimen found till now.
  • Tor khudree, (Sykes, 1839, Deccan mahseer
  • Tor laterivittatus, Zhou & Cui, 1996
  • Tor macrolepis, (Heckel, 1838)
  • Tor polylepis, Zhou & Cui, 1996
  • Tor progeneius, (McClelland, 1839)Jungha mahseer
  • Tor qiaojiensis, Wu, 1977
  • Tor malabaricus, (Jerdon, 1849, Malabar mahseer
  • Tor mosal,(Hamilton, 1822) Mosal Mahseer
  • Tor mussullah, (Sykes, 1839, High-backed mahseer, Hump-backed mahseer or Southern mahseer
  • Tor putitora, (Hamilton, 1822), Himalayan mahseer or Golden mahseer
  • Tor sinensis, Wu, 1977, Chinese mahseer
  • Tor soro, (Valenciennes, 1842)
  • Tor tambra, (Valenciennes, 1842)
  • Tor tambroides, (Bleeker, 1854), Thai mahseer
  • Tor tor, (Hamilton, 1822), Red-finned mahseer, Short-gilled mahseer or Deep-bodied mahseer
  • Tor yingjiangensis, Chen & Yang, 2004
  • Tor yunnanensis, (Wang, Zhuang & Gao, 1982)
  • Tor remadevi, (NATP report,2004)
  • Tor moyarensis, (NATP report,2004)

• Genus Neolissochilus (is separated from Genus Acrossocheilus):
  • Neolissochilus hexagonolepsis, (McClelland, 1839, Chocolate mahseer
  • Neolissochilus hexastichus, (McClelland, 1839), Brown mahseer

• Genus Naziritor
  • Naziritor zhobensis, (Mirza, 1967, Pakistani mahseer
  • Naziritor chilinoides, (McClelland, 1839, Dark Mahseer

[edit] References

1. ^ Yule, Henry, Sir. Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive. New ed. edited by William Crooke, B.A. London: J. Murray, 1903.

• "Tor". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. April 2008 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2008.
• "Neolissochilus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. April 2008 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2008.
• "Naziritor". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. April 2008 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2008.
• Thomas, Henry Sullivan (1897). The Rod in India-Being Hints on how to obtain sport-With Remarks on the Natural History of Fish and Their Culture. London: W. Thacker and Co. 
• Cordington, K. De. B. 1939. Notes on Indian Mahseer. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society. 46: 336-334.
• Dhu, Skene. 1923 (1993 reprint). The angler in India or the Mighty Mahseer. Natraj Publishers.
• Nautiyal, Prakash, ed. 1994. Mahseer: The Game Fish. Natural History, Status and Conservation Practices in India and Nepal. Rachna.
• Silas, E. G., Gopalakrishnan, A., John, L., and Shaji, C. P.. 2005. Genetic identity of Tor malabaricus (Jerdon) (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) as revealed by RAPD markers. Indian journal of fish. 52(2): 125-140.
• Rainboth, W. J. 1985. Neolissochilus, a new group of South Asia Cyprinid fishes. Beaufortia. 35(3): 25-35.
• Mirza, M. R., and Javed, M. N. 1985. A note on Mahseer of Pakistan with the description of Naziritor, a new subgenus (Pisces: Cyprinidae). Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 17: 225-227.
• Arunkumar; & Ch. Basudha. 2003. Tor barakae, a new species of mahseer fish (Cyprinidae: Cyprininae) from Manipur, India. Aquacult. 4(2): 271-276.
• Mohindra, V., Khare, Praveen., Lal, K. K., Punia, P., Singh, R. K., Barman, A. S., and Lakra, W. S. Lakra. 2007. Molecular discrimination of five Mahseer species from Indian peninsula using RAPD analysis Acta Zoologica Sinica. 53(4): 725-732.
• Ambak,M.A., Ashraf,A.H. and Budin,S. 2007. Conservation of the Malaysian Mahseer in Nenggiri Basin through Community Action. In: Mahseer, The Biology, Culture and Conservation. Malaysian Fisheries Soceity Occasional Publication No.14, Kuala Lumpur 2007:217-228
• National Agricultural Technology Poject, 2004. Germplasm inventory, evaluation and gene banking of freshwater fishes. World Bank funded Project MM, No: 27/28/98/NATP/MM-III, 18-32p. National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow India.
• Menon AGK, 1992. Taxonomy of mahseer fishes of the genus Tor Gray with description of a new species from the Deccan. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 89 (2), 210-228.
• Roberts TR, 1999. Fishes of the cyprinid genus Tor in the Nam Theun watershed, Mekong Basin of Laos, with description of a new species. Raffles Bulletan Zoology. 47(1), 225-236.
• Sen TK, Jayaram KC, 1982. The Mahseer Fish of India - a Review. Rec. Zoological Survey of India. Misc. Publ. Occasional Paper 39, 38p.