ICAR-NBFGR's PAGR Centre Discovers Two New Freshwater Fish Species in Western Ghats.

Environment

In April 2025, the Centre for Peninsular Aquatic Genetic Resources (PAGR), located in Kochi (Kerala), a regional unit of the Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)-based ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBFGR), identified two new freshwater fish species: 'Labeo uru' and 'Labeo chekida' from the rivers of the Western Ghats.


      - The findings, published in the Indian Journal of Fisheries, emphasize the urgent need for conservation efforts against threats like dams and habitat destruction.

      - The research team, led by V.S. Basheer, resolved a 150-year-old taxonomic confusion surrounding Labeo nigrescens (Rohu), first described in 1870, through detailed morphological analysis of historical specimens and fresh samples from rivers in Kerala and Karnataka.

     

Main Point :-   (i) Labeo uru was discovered in the Chandragiri River (Karnataka). The species was named after a traditional wooden dhow ('uru'), due to its sail-like elongated dorsal fin.

      (ii) Labeo chekida, a small, dark-bodied fish, was identified in the Chalakudy River (Kerala) and is locally known as "kaka chekida".

(iii) Both species are endemic to their respective river systems, highlighting the unique aquatic biodiversity of the region.

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