A new catfish species discovered in Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a range forest officer of the state.
The news has been confirmed by the Arunachal Pradesh government on its Twitter handle – MyGovArunachal.
The newly discovered sisorid catfish has been identified as Glyptothorax rupiri.
The forest officer is S. Rupir Boli, who is serving as a range forest officer at the Mouling National Park in Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the MyGov Arunachal Pradesh tweet, the new sisorid catfish, identified as Glyptothorax rupiri, has been named after S. Rupir Boli for his help in collecting the specimens during the first survey carried out by researchers.
“A new sisorid catfish identified as Glyptothorax rupiri, has been named after S. Rupir Boli, a range forest officer of Mouling National Park in Arunachal Pradesh, for his help in collecting the specimens during the first survey by researchers,” MyGov Arunachal Pradesh tweeted.
A new sisorid catfish identified as Glyptothorax rupiri, has been named after S. Rupir Boli, a range forest officer of Mouling National Park in Arunachal Pradesh, for his help in collecting the specimens during the first survey by researchers. pic.twitter.com/IJeK3rpSOq
— MyGov Arunachal Pradesh (@MyGovArunachal) August 23, 2021
The Mouling National Park is spread primarily over the Upper Siang district and parts of the West Siang and East Siang district.
The national park was the second national park to be created in Arunachal Pradesh after Namdapha National Park in 1972.
According to researchers, the new species of catfish Glyptothorax rupiri was collected from river Siang by Laishram Kosygin, Pratima Singh and Shibananda Rathi.
The new catfish species differs from its congeners in the Indian subcontinent by a combination of characters such as the presence of plicae on the ventral surface of the pectoral spine and first pelvic-fin ray and a posteriorly serrated dorsal-fin spine.
The researchers wrote in Zootaxa: “The body with two longitudinal pale-cream stripes, densely tuberculated skin and the presence of numerous tubercles on the dorsal surface of pectoral and pelvic-fin rays also differentiate it from other related species.”
According to the study, the species is presently seen only at the Jambung stream, a tributary of river Siang near Hawa Camp in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district (Brahmaputra River basin).