Limaakum, an assistant professor in the Department of Zoology, Fazl Ali College, Mokokchung who has been researching on fish species since 2020 has once again discovered a new fish species, now named Pethia dikhuensis, together with his collaborator, J. Praveenraj, a scientist at the Division of Fisheries Science, ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair. The species was named after Dikhu River from where it was discovered.
It may be recalled that Limaakum has already discovered a dwarf catfish named ‘Pseudolaguvia vespa’ in Milak River in the state of Nagaland back in December 2021.
According to Limaakum, only about 33 Pethia species are known in the world, with around 13 species occurring in the North-Eastern region of India. However, one species in the Dikhu River drew his attention and piqued his interest.
“When I first saw it, I thought it might be a new species. Fortunately, there are only about 30 species. I checked Google, sent samples for DNA analysis to Mumbai, and everything was sorted out,” he stated.
He noted that even though Pethia dikhuensis is abundant in the Dikhu River, he had to make five or six visits there in order to catch the fish alive. The fish is locally known as ‘Petitsüng’.
He recalled how he and Praveen met, saying, “Since August 2020, I was working on Arthropods when I got a call from him on Facebook. He presented himself as a fish specialist and asked if we can work together. I agreed and here we are,” he remarked.
Regarding the distribution of the work, Limaakum said that he works in close collaboration with Dr. J. Praveenraj and that they distribute their work equally but he mostly does ‘Morphology and Meristics’ study while Dr. Praveenraj would do the analysis along with write ups.
“I enjoy collaborating with Praveen. He’s incredibly smart, open-minded, and dependable,” he adds.
He then explained that Praveen and he have even taken on other projects together with himself as the principal investigator.
According to him, his interest in this field of study is motivated by the diversity of fish in the state and the abundance of opportunities.
“See, the species we just discovered is a common species that we encounter every day. Nobody expected it to be new, but it was. And these are the better ones. There are more species yet to be discovered that are in existence among us,” he added.
“It is my hope that Nagaland will be designated as a ‘Fish Biodiversity Hotspot’ within the next 8-9 years. We are working on coming up with more papers with more new species,” he divulged, adding that he will travel to Tuensang next year to do additional research.
“I believe we have numerous options, yet we are all extremely complacent with our life. When people start getting paid, they believe it is sufficient, but this is not the case. We have to work really hard,” he remarked.
The research was published in Zootaxa, a highly regarded journal for taxonomic studies.
Pethia are little fish (5-8 cm) that are usually referred to as ‘barbs.’ These fish are only found on the Indian subcontinent and in Myanmar. Pethia dikhuensis is unique among all species of barbs because the male fish of this species have reddish-orange fins and bodies. The new fish is consumed by locals but also possesses a good ornamental value due to the attractive color. Limaakum also said that the fish changes its color.