Labeo angra (HAMILTON, 1822)

SynonymsTop ↑

Cyprinus angra Hamilton, 1822; Cyprinus morala Hamilton, 1822; ? Cyprinus pausius Hamilton, 1822; ? Cyprinus musiha Hamilton, 1822; Cyprinus hamiltonii Gray, 1830

Etymology

Labeo: from the Latin labeo, meaning ‘one with lips’, in allusion to the remarkably thick, fleshy lips in members of this genus.

angra: presumably a vernacular Bengali name for this species.

Classification

Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae

Distribution

This species is widely distributed with records from Pakistan (North West Frontier Province and Punjab), Nepal (Kosi and Karnali rivers), northern India (states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Orissa), Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

Type locality is ‘Brahmaputra River, India’.

Habitat

This species is primarily benthic and undertakes annual spawning migrations within its native river systems.

Maximum Standard Length

150 – 200 mm.

NotesTop ↑

This species can be identified by colour pattern comprising a brownish dorsal surface, yellowish flanks and abdomen, and a black to bluish lateral stripe extending from the eye to the caudal-fin base.

The genus Labeo is an enigmatic grouping containg more than 100 species which is critically in need of revision. Members occur throughout much of Africa and Asia, and they are considered members of the tribe Labeonini within the putative cyprinid subfamily Cyprininae or simply the subfamily Labeoninae (name varies with author). According to the most recent phylogenetic research, this grouping is further divided into four subtribes; Labeoina, Garraina, Osteochilina, and Semilabeoina (Yang et al., 2012). Among these, Labeo is included in the Labeoina alongside Bangana sensu stricto (which includes the genus Nukta), Cirrhinus sensu stricto, Cirrhinus microlepis (which is of a different genetic lineage to other Cirrhinus species), Gymnostomus, and Incisilabeo.

Thirty Labeo species were used in the study, and the genus was found to be polyphyletic, although all were nested within the Labeoina clade (Yang et al., 2012). Labeo boggut, L. bata and L. bata var. formed a clade with Incisilabeo behri, Schismatorhynchos nukta, and Bangana dero (the type species of the genus) and B. sp. Salween. All other Labeo species comprised a group referred to as Labeo sensu stricto which also includes Gibelion catla, and the authors recommended that the latter be synonymised with Labeo, although this does not appear to have been widely accepted (eg. Kottelat, 2013).

References

1. Hamilton, F., 1822 - Edinburgh & London: i-vii + 1-405
   An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches.
2. Kottelat, M., 2013 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 27: 1-663
   The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibiography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries.
3. Stiassny, M. L. J. and A. Getahun, 2007 - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150(1): 41-83
   An overview of labeonin relationships and the phylogenetic placement of the Afro-Asian genus Garra Hamilton, 1922 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), with the description of five new species of Garra from Ethiopia, and a key to all African species.
4. Yang, L. and R. L. Mayden, 2010 - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54(1): 254-265
   Phylogenetic relationships, subdivision, and biogeography of the cyprinid tribe Labeonini (sensu Rainboth, 1991) (Teleostei: Cypriniformes), with comments on the implications of lips and associated structures in the labeonin classification.
5. Yang, L., M. Arunachalam, T. Sado, B. A. Levin, A. S. Golubtsov, J. Freyhof, J. P. Friel, W-J. Chen, M. V. Hirt, R. Manickam, M. K. Agnew, A. M. Simons, K. Saitoh, M. Miya, R. L. Mayden, and S. He, 2012 - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65(2): 362-379
   Molecular phylogeny of the cyprinid tribe Labeonini (Teleostei: Cypriniformes).