Fish Fauna of Asan River and Its Tributaries, Western Doon Valley, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), with Conservation Status of Species and Threats - Aquatic Ecosystem: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation - page 249

and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Corbett Tiger
Reserve and Rajaji National Park.

Localities Surveyed
Asan reservoir; seepage nala and Asan River
above Kunja Grant.

India
Himalayan foothills. Assam (Numaligarh), Bihar,
Himachal Pradesh, Odisha (Salane river), Punjab
(Sutlej basin), Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
(Darjeeling).

Diagnostic Characters
D. 3/8, P. 1/10, V. 1/7, A. 2/5.
Body elongated, nostrils close to each other,
mouth semicircular, lips fl eshy and furrowed,
barbels longer than the eye; dorsal fi n origin
midway between the snout tip and caudal base,
caudal fi n forked; scales minute, inconspicuous,
more prominent posteriorly, absent on ventral
side, lateral line complete. Body pale with about
nine vertical bars, wider than interspaces, dorsal
fi n with a row of dark spots, a dark band at the
caudal base.

Elsewhere
Afghanistan, Bangladesh (Padma river), Nepal
and Pakistan.

Habitat and Ecology
Inhabits clear waters and hill streams with sandy
bottom, also collected in a large river with high,
turbid monsoon fl ow and with diverse substrate
consisting of sand, mud, gravel, pebble, cobble
and boulders.

Maximum Length
8.0 cm.

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List, least concern.

Distribution

Uttarakhand
Garhwal Division: Chamoli, Dehradun, Pauri and
Tehri districts; Kumaon Division: Nainital dis-
trict. Corbett Tiger Reserve and Rajaji National
Park.

Threats
Damming and destructive fi shing.

Remarks
Kullander et al. ( 1999 ) placed the species under
Schistura , but very recently, Kottelat ( 2012 ) men-
tioned it under taxonomic notes 'Generic posi-
tion requires investigation' and hence followed
the same treatment here.
Of no fi shery interest.
Genus: Schistura McClelland, 1838

India
West Bengal (north). Reports of its occurrence in
parts of the Brahmaputra river drainage in
Meghalaya need to be verifi ed.

Elsewhere
Bangladesh and Nepal.
Reports of its occurrence in Pakistan,
Myanmar and Pakistan need to be verifi ed.

31. Schistura beavani (Gunther, 1868)
Nemachilus beavani Gunther, 1868. Cat. Fish.
Brit. Mus., 7: 350 (type locality: Kosi river).
Nemacheilus beavani Husain, 2003 . Faun. Asan
Wetland, Wetland Ecosystem Series 5 : 23-26
(Asan reservoir, seepage nala, Asan River
above Kunja Grant).

Habitat and Ecology
Occurs in shallow and swift clear hill streams
with sandy, gravely and pebbly bed, preferring
pools and riffl e areas of creek, also collected in
large rivers with high, turbid monsoon fl ow and
with diverse substrate consisting of sand, mud,
gravel, pebble, cobble and boulders

English Name
Creek Loach.

Local Name
Gadera.

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List, least concern.