New Genus From The Western Ghats - 'Koima'
A new genus of freshwater fish from the eastern Ghats — ‘Koima’ — has been described by researchers in India. The two species of fish earlier identified under genus Nemacheilus have been reclassified under the newly coined genus.
The finding is especially significant as new species are continuously discovered across the globe but the addition of a new genus in the nomenclature is comparably a rare event.
The fish named Mesonoemacheilus remadevii and Nemacheilus monilis are now renamed as Koima remadevii and Koima monilis — a small, elongated bottom-dwelling freshwater fish used for dietary and ornamental purposes.
Both species are endemic to the Western Ghats and found in the tributaries of the Cauvery river.
Neelesh Dahanukar, assistant professor at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi and co-author of the study titled Koima, a new genus of nemacheilid loach from the Western Ghats, India (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) told Down To Earth (DTE) that the need to re-examine the study of the fish was attributed to its broad classification under the Nemacheilus genus.
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Himanshu Nitnaware
