An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan
Abstract In South and South East Asia three genera of fish species i.e. Tor, Neolissochilus and Naziritor are commonly known as Mahseer with at least 47 species. Among these 23 belongs to genus Tor, 22 to Neolissochilus and one to Naziritor i.e. Naziritor zhobensis. Recently another species added to...
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| Format: | Article |
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Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Brazilian Journal of Biology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842023000100144&tlng=en |
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| author | M. Yousaf Z. Hasan F. Zaidi S. B. Rasheed |
| author_facet | M. Yousaf Z. Hasan F. Zaidi S. B. Rasheed |
| author_sort | M. Yousaf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In South and South East Asia three genera of fish species i.e. Tor, Neolissochilus and Naziritor are commonly known as Mahseer with at least 47 species. Among these 23 belongs to genus Tor, 22 to Neolissochilus and one to Naziritor i.e. Naziritor zhobensis. Recently another species added to genus Naziritor is Naziritor chelynoides in India. Among Tor species Tor putitora (Hamilton) is the most widely distributed Mahseer in Pakistan and other countries of the Indian subcontinent. However, based alone on morphological characters some authors identify the Pakistani counterparts as Tor macrolepis (Heckel), (a species presumed to be found exclusively in the Indus River system) distinct from Tor putitora (a species found in Ganga Brahmaputra River system). In order to resolve this taxonomic ambiguity, present study carried out meristic and morphometric measurements of Mahseer collected from a total of 11 water bodies of Pakistan. Ratios between the morphometric characters were calculated and statistically analyzed using t-test and correlation coefficient. Two species identified as Tor putitora and Naziritor zhobensis were the sole Mahseer inhabitants of Indus system in Pakistan. Tor putitora occurred at all surveyed sites while Nazirtor zhobensis had a distribution range from river Zhob to tributaries of river Gomal the right bank tributaries of River Indus. The study corroborates that there are no unequivocal morphological synapomorphies in any existing populations of both species. The study further demonstrates that head length, a character frequently used in Mahseer taxonomy, is not a good measure for species identification. Finally the present study establishes that Naziritor zhobensis still exists in the water bodies of Pakistan and that golden Mahseer occurring in Indus riverine system of Pakistan is Tor putitora. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:19:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13446b306e46409bbef2b9bb2e9cd10d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-4375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:19:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | Instituto Internacional de Ecologia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brazilian Journal of Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-13446b306e46409bbef2b9bb2e9cd10d2022-12-21T19:36:06ZengInstituto Internacional de EcologiaBrazilian Journal of Biology1678-43752021-08-018310.1590/1519-6984.243975An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in PakistanM. Yousafhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6981-0373Z. Hasanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3414-1402F. Zaidihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4700-8125S. B. Rasheedhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3080-411XAbstract In South and South East Asia three genera of fish species i.e. Tor, Neolissochilus and Naziritor are commonly known as Mahseer with at least 47 species. Among these 23 belongs to genus Tor, 22 to Neolissochilus and one to Naziritor i.e. Naziritor zhobensis. Recently another species added to genus Naziritor is Naziritor chelynoides in India. Among Tor species Tor putitora (Hamilton) is the most widely distributed Mahseer in Pakistan and other countries of the Indian subcontinent. However, based alone on morphological characters some authors identify the Pakistani counterparts as Tor macrolepis (Heckel), (a species presumed to be found exclusively in the Indus River system) distinct from Tor putitora (a species found in Ganga Brahmaputra River system). In order to resolve this taxonomic ambiguity, present study carried out meristic and morphometric measurements of Mahseer collected from a total of 11 water bodies of Pakistan. Ratios between the morphometric characters were calculated and statistically analyzed using t-test and correlation coefficient. Two species identified as Tor putitora and Naziritor zhobensis were the sole Mahseer inhabitants of Indus system in Pakistan. Tor putitora occurred at all surveyed sites while Nazirtor zhobensis had a distribution range from river Zhob to tributaries of river Gomal the right bank tributaries of River Indus. The study corroborates that there are no unequivocal morphological synapomorphies in any existing populations of both species. The study further demonstrates that head length, a character frequently used in Mahseer taxonomy, is not a good measure for species identification. Finally the present study establishes that Naziritor zhobensis still exists in the water bodies of Pakistan and that golden Mahseer occurring in Indus riverine system of Pakistan is Tor putitora.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842023000100144&tlng=enIndus Riverine systemmorphologyNaziritor zhobensisPakistanTor putitora |
| spellingShingle | M. Yousaf Z. Hasan F. Zaidi S. B. Rasheed An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan Brazilian Journal of Biology Indus Riverine system morphology Naziritor zhobensis Pakistan Tor putitora |
| title | An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan |
| title_full | An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan |
| title_short | An overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered Golden and Zhobi mahseer in Pakistan |
| title_sort | overview of the taxonomic instability of endangered golden and zhobi mahseer in pakistan |
| topic | Indus Riverine system morphology Naziritor zhobensis Pakistan Tor putitora |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842023000100144&tlng=en |
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