Neelesh Dahanukar

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• Ph.D.
• Assistant Professor at Shiv Nadar University

A new species of the cyprinid genus Pethia is described from the Hiranyakeshi, a tributary of the Krishna River system in the Western Ghats mountain ranges of peninsular India. The new species, Pethia sahit, is syntopic—and shoals together—with Pethia longicauda, a species described recently from the same river. Pethia sahit is distinguished from P...

• The freshwater aquarium trade provides economic and livelihood opportunities to the rural poor, but has been implicated in biodiversity loss through population declines and local extirpation of high‐value endemic species. Previous observations on population declines are largely based on anecdotal data, however, and there are no studies on the pop...

Western Ghats of India is rich in floristic diversity and endemism. However, being highly threatened with anthropogenic stressors, with only 6.8% of its original vegetation still extant, along with Sri Lanka it is considered as a biodiversity hotspot. It has been suggested that sacred groves in Western Ghats could act as refuge for the relic flora...

Dario neela, is described from a small tributary stream of the Kabini River in northern Kerala, India. It can be distinguished from congeners by the male colouration in life, which shows wide rims of iridescent blue in all median fins and the pelvic fin. It is further distinguished from all species of Dario, except D. urops by the number of abdomin...

Snakehead fishes of the family Channidae are predatory freshwater teleosts from Africa and Asia comprising 38 valid species. Snakeheads are important food fishes (aquaculture, live food trade) and have been introduced widely with several species becoming highly invasive. A channid barcode library was recently assembled by Serrao and co-workers to b...

Populations of the iconic tiger shark, Galeocerdo cuvier, are in a state of global decline, with the species assessed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List. Despite this, there is a lack of fundamental information required for regional management, such as those on life history and ecology. We bridge this knowledge gap by generating the first in...

Oreichthys warjaintia, new species, is described from the Pyrngang stream (Surma–Meghna basin), Meghalaya, northeast India. It can be distinguished from all known species within the genus Oreichthys in having the following combination of characters: complete lateral line with 25–27 pored scales, 13 branched pectoral‐fin rays, 5–5½ branched anal‐fin...

Koima, a new genus of nemacheilid loach, is described for Mesonoemacheilus remadevii Shaji 2002, and Nemacheilus monilis Hora 1921, both of which are endemic to the Western Ghats of southern peninsular India. Koima is distinguished from all other genera of family Nemacheilidae by its unique colour pattern comprising a yellowish-brown ground colour,...

Context The quagga catshark (Halaelurus quagga) is a small-sized (~370-mm total length), deep-water catshark (Family: Pentanchidae), assessed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List. Aim We aimed to bridge critical knowledge gaps on aspects of the life history and exploitation of H. quagga to make a meaningful Red List assessment, and develop manag...

Context The Indo-Pacific tarpon (Megalops cyprinoides) is a diadromous species, for which limited information is available regarding demographics and exploitation levels. Aim We aimed to fill critical knowledge gaps on population dynamics and exploitation levels of M. cyprinoides along the south-western coast of India. Methods Structured length f...

Sri Lanka's biota is derived largely from Southeast Asian lineages which immigrated via India following its early-Eocene contact with Laurasia. The island is now separated from southeastern India by the 30 km wide Palk Strait which, during sea-level low-stands, was bridged by the 140 km-wide Palk Isthmus. Consequently, biotic ingress and egress wer...

Loaches of the genus Lepidocephalich-thys are ubiquitous in Peninsular India and the nearby continental-shelf island of Sri Lanka. Four valid species are reported from this region: L. thermalis, a species reported from across this region; L. jonk-laasi, confined to rainforests in southern Sri Lanka; L. coromandelensis, from the Eastern Ghats and L....

Sri Lanka’s biota is derived largely from Southeast Asian lineages which immigrated via India following its early-Eocene contact with Laurasia. The island is now separated from southeastern India by the 30 km wide Palk Strait which, during sea-level low-stands, was bridged by the 140 km-wide Palk Isthmus. Consequently, biotic ingress and egress wer...

The world’s largest subterranean fish was discovered in 2019, and was tentatively identified as a troglomorphic form of the golden mahseer, Tor putitora. Detailed analyses of its morphometric and meristic data, and results from molecular analyses now reveal that it is a new species of the genus Neolissochilus, the sister taxon of Tor. We formally d...

The lateritic aquifers of the southern Indian state of Kerala harbour a unique assemblage of enigmatic stygobitic fishes which are encountered very rarely, only when they surface during the digging and cleaning of homestead wells. Here, we focus on one of the most unusual members of this group, the catfish Horaglanis, a genus of rarely-collected, t...

Hostplant' location and conspecific aggregation on the hostplant are the key behaviors of several herbivore insect species. The cues used by insects for host identification and aggregation initiation have been researched mainly using a single hostplant species. The chemical repertoire of plants, including volatile and non-volatile secondary metabol...

Nematode parasites of the family Anisakidae infect definitive hosts, such as fish‐eating birds and mammals, through primary intermediate hosts like copepods and secondary intermediate hosts like fishes. However, consumption of raw or undercooked fish can lead to nematode infection called anisakidosis in humans. We observed the presence of nematode...

Ephemeral rock pools are a characteristic type of aquatic habitat formed on the rock outcrops throughout the world, which harbor unique flora and fauna. Due to their structural simplicity and small size, rocky pools form a unique model ecosystem for studying how local environmental parameters shape aquatic vegetation. We studied the species-environ...

A second subterranean species of Pangio is described from an old dug-out well in Kerala, Southern India. The new species, Pangio pathala is unique within the genus in possessing the highest number (27) of caudal vertebrae. Pangio pathala is distinguished from P. bhujia, the only subterranean Pangio species known so far, in having four pectoral-fin...

Ornamental aquaculture is an economically important industry with many enthusiasts worldwide. Much of the supply for the industry is provided by individuals and businesses in tropical countries because many ornamental species originated in the tropics. But Czechia, a temperate region in Central Europe, is an exception. Czech suppliers have signific...

Diversity and distribution of dragon snakeheads of the family Aenigmachannidae, and the identity of Aenigmachanna mahabali

• Tropical freshwater eels (Anguilla bengalensis and Anguilla bicolor) contribute a major share of the world's wild-caught eel production, having become the next major target owing to the declines in availability of both Anguilla japonica and Anguilla anguilla, species that have traditionally contributed to eel aquaculture and trade. • Although bot...

Seahorses comprise a charismatic, high-value and high conservation-concern group of fishes, whose demographics, including the dynamics of populations, are poorly studied. In this paper, we fill this key knowledge gap by determining the population dynamics of two threatened species, Hippocampus kuda and H. trimaculatus, from the south-east coast of...

Riverscape genetics of fish, though extensively studied in temperate regions, have received limited interest in tropical rivers, especially in montane systems which not only harbour several endemic and threatened species, but are also subjected to extensive habitat modifications. We determine the population genetic structure of two endemic balitori...

The diving beetle genus Peschetius Guignot, 1942 (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) in India is reviewed. Integrative taxonomic approach using morphology, multivariate morphometry and genetic analysis of cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 revealed the presence of four species, two of which are described here as new: Peschetius bistroemi sp. nov. from southern West...

The cyprinid genus Dawkinsia comprises 13 species distributed in lowland streams and rivers in southern peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Eleven species are endemic to India, largely restricted to streams draining the Western Ghats, while one is confined to the Knuckles Hills of Sri Lanka. One species, D. filamentosa, has a wide range, straddling the...

The phylogenetic diversity of cultivable actinobacteria isolated from sponges (Haliclona spp.) and associated intertidal zone environments along the northern parts of the western coast of India were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A subset of randomly selected actinobacterial cultures were screened for three activities, namely predatory beha...

Groundwater depletion is a significant global issue, but its impact on the often-enigmatic subterranean biodiversity and its conservation remains poorly understood. In the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India, poor governance of groundwater resources is threatening its evolutionarily distinct subterranean freshwater fauna, some taxa of which...

This study correlated the abundance of five jellyfish species in the south-west coast of India, South-eastern Arabian Sea, Crambionella orsini, Lychnorhiza malayensis, Chrysaora caliparea, Netrostoma coerulescens and Cyanea nozakii, with hydrographic parameters. Partial least square (PLS) analysis suggested strong correlations between jellyfish abu...

This study correlated the abundance of five jellyfish species in the south-west coast of India, South-eastern Arabian Sea, Crambionella orsini, Lychnorhiza malayensis, Chrysaora caliparea, Netrostoma coerulescens and Cyanea nozakii, with hydrographic parameters. Partial least square (PLS) analysis suggested strong correlations between jellyfish abu...

Article impact statement: A novel scheme of payment for damage and reward for productivity helped resolve farmer-wildlife conflict. Abstract Conflict caused by wild herbivores damaging crops is an almost universal problem in conservation. We designed and implemented a game-theory-based system for supporting farmers whose crops were being heavily da...

Conflict caused by wild herbivores damaging crops is an almost universal problem in conservation. We designed and implemented a game‐theory‐based system for supporting farmers whose crops were being heavily damaged by wild herbivores. In this community‐operated system, farmers self‐report their production, which is endorsed by neighboring farmers....

Despite exhibiting multiple morphological adaptations to living in swiftly flowing water (rheophily), Garra ceylonensis is one of the most widely distributed freshwater fish in Sri Lanka. It is thus an ideal organism to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a widespread, yet morphologically specialized, freshwater fish in a tropical-island settin...

Despite exhibiting multiple morphological adaptations to living in swiftly flowing water (rheophily), Garra ceylonensis is one of the most widely distributed freshwater fish in Sri Lanka. It is thus an ideal organism to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a widespread, yet morphologically specialized, freshwater fish in a tropical-island settin...

The teleostean family Balitoridae comprises small-sized freshwater fishes adapted to swift-flowing torrential mountain streams in South and South-East Asia. Little is known about their molecular phylogenetics and evolutionary biogeography, and much of the scientific literature that references them is focused on morphological taxonomy. In this paper...

We provide a detailed description of the head and shoulder girdle osteology of the holotype of the synbranchid 'Monopterus' roseni Bailey & Gans. Collected from a well in Kerala, this subterranean synbranchid shows a number of unique and highly derived characters in the gill arch skeleton. In 'Monopterus'roseni, basibranchial 2 does not articulate...

A new species of hill-stream loach, Indoreonectes telanganaensis, is described from a seasonal tributary of the Godavari River at Maisamma Loddi, within the Kawal Tiger Reserve, Telangana State, India. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of characters including caudal peduncle as long as deep; eye large, its diamete...

Aim: The Western Ghats Hotspot in peninsular India harbours remarkable diversity and endemism of freshwater fish. However, the ichthyofauna's evolutionary histories and biogeography are poorly known. Here, we investigate (a) the diversity, evolutionary history and biogeography of endemic mountain loaches and (b) the potential influence of the physi...

Pronounced organism-wide morphological stasis in evolution has resulted in taxa with unusually high numbers of primitive characters. These ‘living fossils’ hold a prominent role for our understanding of the diversification of the group in question. Here we provide the first detailed osteological analysis of Aenigmachanna gollum based on high-resolu...

The South and SouthEast Asian freshwater fish genus Systomus (Cyprinidae) comprises 17 valid species. Six nominal species, including three endemics, have been reported from Sri Lanka, a continental island separated from India by a shallow-shelf sea. The species diversity of Systomus on the island has until now not been assessed; neither has an eval...

The diversity of the freshwater-fish genus Rasbora (Cyprinidae) on Sri Lanka (five species) is high compared with the four species reported from the peninsula of India, from which the island's cyprinid fauna is derived. The paucity of characters by which species of Rasbora can be phenotypically distinguished renders field identification difficult,...

The African sharp-tooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus has caused significant negative impacts on freshwater biodiversity, especially in the developing world. An assessment of the demographics of an invasive C. gariepinus population from a freshwater Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site in Southern India, revealed high growth rate, low fishing mort...

Bhavania annandalei Hora 1920, is resurrected from the synonymy of B. australis (Jerdon, 1849) based on examination of freshly collected topotypic specimens. The two species can be distinguished by a combination of morphological characters including low, dense, and sparsely distributed tubercles on dorsal surface of head and operculum, rostral barb...

Microdytes hygropetricus sp. nov. from the northern Western Ghats in Maharashtra State, India is described and illustrated. The new species presumably inhabits exclusively hygropetric habitats on vertical cliffs and differs from all congeners by dorso-ventrally flattened body, strong punctation of dorsal surface, flattened sides of pronotum and elo...

We describe here the design, evolution and experimental implementation of a real life, game theory based system for supporting farmers suffering heavy crop damage by wild herbivores near protected areas. The system is community operated in which farmers self-report their produce, which is endorsed by neighbouring farmers. The average deficit in the...

Maharaja Barbs (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), endemic to the high-altitude streams of the northern Western Ghats are currently represented by a single species, Puntius sahyadriensis. Integrative taxonomic analysis of these fishes reveals them to form a distinct clade within the Cyprinidae, for which we propose the name Waikhomia gen. nov. Waikhomia diffe...

A group of Indian scientists including botanists, entomologists, ornithologists, mammalogists, herpetologists, aquatic fauna specialists, hydrologists, geographers, and social scientists, many with research experience in northeastern India, including the Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, have conducted a peer-review of the Technical Report prepar...

A group of Indian scientists including botanists, entomologists, ornithologists, mammalogists, herpetologists, aquatic fauna specialists, hydrologists, geographers, and social scientists, many with research experience in northeastern India, including the Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, have conducted a peer-review of the Technical Report prepar...

Fishes of the genus Dawkinsia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka, are reviewed, recognising three new species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 and cytochrome b gene sequences, delineated species of Dawkinsia into two distinct monophyletic lineages, representing two d...

Bhavania annandalei Hora 1920, is resurrected from the synonymy of B. australis (Jerdon 1849) based on examination of freshly collected topotypic specimens. The two species can be distinguished by a combination of morphological, morphometric and meristic characters, and by genetic distance using mitochondrial cox1 gene. The distribution of B. annan...

In this note we provide the first report of stinkhorn fungus Aseroë coccinea from northern Western Ghats of India and first report of this species from outside its type locality in Japan. In addition to the morphological characters, we also provide sequences for two molecular markers and provide a phylogenetic tree, which questions the generic posi...

Phylogenetic diversity of cultivable actinobacteria isolated from sponges and associated environments of intertidal zones, along the northern parts of west coast of India, were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequences. A subset of actinobacteria were screened for three activities, namely predatory behavior, antibacterial activity and enzyme inhibition...

Invasion of armoured catfish, Pterygoplichthys spp., is a major threat to global aquatic biodiversity, and developing effective strategies for their control and eradication is both a concern and a research priority. A length‐based population assessment of invasive Pterygoplichthys pardalis in southern India, a hotspot for endemic aquatic biodiversi...

Cypriniformes family Danionidae, which comprises of small minnow-type freshwater fishes, is widely distributed in the Indian subcontinent. The family comprises of 353 species in four subfamilies namely Chedrinae, Danioninae, Esominae, Rasborinae and they occupy a variety of habitats including hillstreams, rivers, ponds and reservoirs where several...

In February 2019 a troglomorphic fish was discovered in a cave in Meghalaya in northeastern India. The largest individual seen in the cave was in excess of 400mm in standard length making it, by far, the largest known subterranean fish found to date. Initial investigations indicate it is a close anatomical match to Tor putitora but differs in its d...

Channa rara, new species, is described from the Jagbudi River in Maharashtra, India. It belongs to the Gachua group and differs from all its members by the possession of one or more ocelli in the posterior part of the dorsal fin in adults (vs. ocelli absent or 1, rarely 2–3 ocelli in juveniles only). It is further distinguished from most species of...

A unique, new species of eel loach, Pangio bhujia, is described from Kerala, India. It is the first species of Pangio to be described from subterranean waters. It possesses several unusual characters including absence of both dorsal and pelvic fins, the presence of only 3 pectoral-fin rays, 6 anal-fin rays and a unique count of 38 precaudal + 24 ca...

The mahseer fishes (Tor spp.) represent an iconic genus of large-bodied species of the Cyprinidae family. Across the 16 recognised species in the genus, individual fish can attain weights over 50 kg, resulting in some species being considered as premier sport fishes. Tor species also generally have high religious and cultural significance throughou...

Aenigmachanna gollum, new genus and species, is described from Kerala, South India. It is the first subterranean species of the family Channidae. It has numerous derived and unique characters, separating it from both the Asian Channa Scopoli and the African Parachanna Teugels & Daget. Uniquely among channids, A. gollum has a very slender (maximum b...

The mahseer fishes (Tor spp.) represent an iconic genus of large-bodied species of the Cyprini-dae family. Across the 16 recognised species in the genus, individual fish can attain weights over 50 kg, resulting in some species being considered as premier sport fishes. Tor species also generally have high religious and cultural significance througho...

Glassfishes of the family Ambassidae, comprising around 50 species, are distributed in the Indo-West Pacific where they inhabit marine, estuarine, and freshwater ecosystems. We investigated for the first time the molecular phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships of this group using a combined dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear genes, particul...

The medically important Indian red scorpion, Hottentotta tamulus, is one of the most poisonous scorpions of Indian subcontinent. We studied the haplotype diversity in eight populations of H. tamulus based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) partial gene sequence. Analyses revealed 22 haplotypes with a haplotype diversity of 0.941 an...

The first assessment of the demographics of Lagocephalus inermis, a species associated with pufferfish bites and fishing down the food web in the Arabian Sea, south‐west coast of India, was performed based on length structured population dynamics of 1601 individuals caught in commercial fisheries. Analysis revealed that the current level of exploit...

The Western Ghats of India harbours an exceptional diversity of endemic freshwater fishes, which are threatened because of various anthropogenic stressors, including biological resource use. Lack of organized studies on the population dynamics and exploitation levels of endemic species, however, has hindered the development and implementation of sy...

Rivers draining the Western Ghats (WG) mountain ranges in peninsular India harbor an exceptionally diverse, unique and evolutionarily distinct assemblage of lower vertebrates with high levels of endemism, attributed to their evolution and potentially long history of isolation during the Late Cretaceous or Early Tertiary. A molecular phylogeny of hi...

A demographic study on Epinephelus bleekeri based on a sample of 1003 individuals caught in commercial fisheries along the Arabian Sea coast of southern India considerably extends the maximum recorded standard length for this species to 870mm, indicates a high natural mortality rate and an exploitation level (E) greater than the Emax. This article...

The diversity of hillstream loaches in the northern part of the Western Ghats region of India was studied for the first time using two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b. Phylogenetic analysis revealed monophyletic groups corresponding to the genera Indoreonectes, Paracanthocobitis, Nemacheilus, Schistura and Nemachi...

The Asian sheat catfish, Wallago attu is a commercially important species owing to its high nutritional quality and consumer demand. Population dynamics and exploitation levels of W. attu based on catches from river systems of southern India revealed an asymptotic length (L∞) of 99.75 cm, growth coefficient between 0.89 and 1.3 year-1, and total mo...

Distribution and habitat associations of the Critically Endangered frog Walkerana phrynoderma (Anura: Ranixalidae), with an assessment of potential threats, abundance, and morphology. Little is known about Walkerana phrynoderma, a frog endemic to the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats of India. Baseline information (i.e., distribution, threats, ha...

Growing to lengths and weights exceeding 1.5 m and 45 kg, the hump-backed mahseer fish of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, is an iconic, mega-faunal species that is globally recognized as a premier freshwater game fish. Despite reports of their high extinction risk, conservation approaches are currently constrained by their lack of va...

List of specimens used for the molecular analysis in Fig 3. (DOCX)

Little is known about Walkerana phrynoderma, a frog endemic to the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats of India. Baseline information (i.e., distribution, threats, habitat characteristics, activity patterns, and relative abundance) is provided for this species, with the aim of improving our understanding of the status of the species in the wild. Vi...

Proper specification of germline stem cells (GSCs) in Drosophila ovaries depends on niche derived non-autonomous signaling and cell autonomous components of transcriptional machinery. Stonewall (Stwl), a MADF-BESS family protein, is one of the cell intrinsic transcriptional regulators involved in the establishment and/or maintenance of GSC fate in...

In his work on the fishes of the Andaman Islands, Francis Day (1870) collected large-sized specimens of Aplocheilus from the south Andamans. Despite differences in the size and dorsal-fin ray counts, Day refrained from recognising the Andaman Aplocheilus as a distinct species and considered it as Aplocheilus panchax, a species distributed in the Ga...

A new species Nyctibatrachus mewasinghi is described from the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary of Western Ghats of Kozhikode District, Kerala. The new species can be distinguished from known congeners based on small adult size, head equal to or slightly wider than long, less wrinkled dorsal skin with prominent granular projections, absence of dorso-later...

The Nemacheilid loaches, Noemacheilus triangularis tambaraparniensis and Nemacheilus periyarensis have been widely considered to be synonyms of the zodiac loach, Mesonoemacheilus triangularis. An integrative taxonomic investigation based on topotypic material, involving molecular analysis of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 and...

50% Majority rule consensus tree of the neighbour joining tree based on HKY distances. Bootstrap values from 1000 pseudoreplicates are shown. (EPS)

Snakehead chronogram from the BEAST analysis using a coalescence prior. Species delimitations based on BIN, GMYC single, GMYC multiple, and PTP thresholds are indicated by black bars. Misidentified and incomplete identified specimens are indicated with a red dot. (EPS)