Mahseer
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Mahseers are large-scaled carp of the family Cyprinidae, prized game fish found in India and southern Asia generally.
They were originally described by Hamilton in 1822, and first mentioned as an angling challenge by the Oriental Sporting Magazine in 1833, soon becoming a favorite quarry of British anglers living in India. The golden mahseer has been known to reach 2.75 m (9 ft) in length and 54 kg (118 lb) in weight, although specimens of this size are rarely seen nowadays.
Mahseers inhabit both rivers and lakes, ascending to rapid streams with rocky bottoms for breeding. Like other types of carp, they are omnivorous, eating not only algae, crustaceans, insects, frogs, and other fish, but also fruit that falls from trees overhead.
In addition to being caught for sport, mahseer are also part of commercial fishing in India.
[edit] Species
- Genus Tor:
- Red-finned mahseer, short-gilled mahseer or deep-bodied mahseer, Tor tor (Hamilton)
- Golden mahseer, yellow-finned mahseer or common Himalayan mahseer, Tor putitora (Hamilton)
- Copper mahseer, Tor mosal (Hamilton)
- Jungha, Tor progeneius (McClelland)
- Deccan mahseer, Tor khudree (Sykes)
- High-backed mahseer, hump-backed mahseer or southern mahseer, Tor mussullah (Sykes)
- Malabar mahseer, Tor malabaricus (Silas)
- Thai mahseer, Tor tambroides (Bleeker)
- Chinese mahseer, Tor sinensis (Wu)
- Malaysian mahseer, Tor douronensis (Valenciennes)
- paki mahseer, Tor zhobensis (Mirza)
- Genus Neolissochilus old name was Acrossocheilus:
- Chocolate mahseer or Brown mahseer, Neolissochilus hexagonolepsis
[edit] References
- Cordington, K. De. B., "Notes on Indian Mahseer" (1939, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society. 46, 336-334)
- Skene Dhu, The angler in India or the Mighty Mahseer (1923, reprinted Natraj Publishers 1993)
- Prakash Nautiyal, ed., Mahseer: The Game Fish (Natural History, Status and Conservation Practices in India and Nepal) (Rachna, 1994)
- Silas, E. G.; Gopalakrishnan, A.; John, L and Shaji, C. P., "Genetic identity of Tor malabaricus (Jerdon) (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) as revealed by RAPD markers" (2005, Indian journal of fish. 52(2): 125-140)
- Rainboth, W. J., "Neolissochilus, a new group of South Asia Cyprinid fishes" (1985, Beaufortia. 35(3), 25-35)
- Mirza, M. R. & Javed, M. N., "A note on Mahseer of Pakistan with the description of Naziritor, a new subgenus (Pisces: Cyprinidae)" (1985, Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 17, 225-227)
