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Dr. Mathews Plamoottil (3)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal spines: 4; Anal soft rays: 9 - 10. This species is distinguished from its congeners in having the following characters: slender body (BDD 16.0-18.0 % SL); the body and fins are yellowish; dorsal profile nearly straight; with a single median longitudinal groove on head; occipital process very small and hidden under skin; adipose dorsal fin with a straight margin for entire length and inserted behind a considerable distance from rayed dorsal fin; flat head (HD 53.0-57.1 % SL) and orbits widely set (IOW 27.0-31.3 % HL), (Plamoottil, 2015). Habitat: Inhabits the river stretch of Manimala River at Paduthode where it occurs generally on sand or sandy gravel bottom with occasional presence of bed rock or black clays. The width and depth of this area are 45.0-125.0 m and 0.3-6 m, respectively; bank height is 4.0-5.0 m above general water level in summer season; blanketed by moderate to dense riparian vegetation with intermittent occurrence of low riparian vegetation noticed at certain places. This species is unique for it requires spotless and clear water and is intolerant to the accumulation of organic wastes and other contaminants, thus regular monitoring of the water quality is essential for the protection and preservation of this rare species, (Plamoottil, 2015). Aquarium Care: Batasio are shy, rarely moving freely once settled in the tank. To keep long term a proper hillstream type setup must be provided with rocks and ample hiding spaces should be given with pristine and oxygen saturated waters. Since these come from hillstreams, temperature should also be on the lower side (Mishra, Abhisek 2024). Diet: They can be difficult to feed at first but gradually will take frozen or live food and can be weaned on to take pellets (Mishra, Abhisek 2024). Etymology: The genus name Batasio: from the local (Bengali) name of the fish (batasio or batashi). The specific name flavus: Latin word meaning ‘light yellow’ refers to the colour of the body of the new fish.

Yellow Batasio

None

Bagridae

Asia: Currently known to occur only at Paduthode of Manimala River, Kerala, India.

10.5cm (4¼ins)

18-23°C (63-73°F)

6.0-7.0.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 02/2024 ).
Mishra, Abhisek pers comm, 2024.
Plamoottil, M., 2015. Batasio flavus, a new catfish species (Siluriformes: Bagridae) from Kerala, India. J. Res. Biol. 5(5):1799-1808.