ITANAGAR, Aug 16: Five more species of fish were discovered from Arunachal Pradesh by a fisheries and aquatic ecology research team led by Prof DN Das from Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) recently.
The discovery and descriptions of the fish species have been published in various journals of international repute, according to a release from RGU’s zoology department.
The newly discovered species include the Mystus prabini (discovered in Sinkin and the Dibang rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district); the Exostoma kottelati (discovered in the Ranga river in Lower Subansiri district); the Creteuchiloglanis tawangensis (discovered in the Tawangchu river in Tawang district); the Garra ranganensis (discovered in the Ranga river); and the Physoschistura harkishorei (discovered in the Dibang and the Lohit rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district).
Prof Das said the majority of remote water bodies in the state are still not easily accessible to researchers “due to dense rainforests, steep terrains and communication problem.”
He, however, said the re-
search team is optimistic that meticulous exploration work may result in more discoveries of new ichthyo species from the state in the future.
