ITANAGAR, 1 Oct: A new fish species of the Danionidae family (genus: Esomus) has been discovered in Assam’s Dima Hasao district by a group of researchers from RGU, the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, and the Dibrugarh University, Assam.
The discovery has been published in the September edition of Italy-based Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology.
The species has been named after Gibji Nimasow, professor at Rajiv Gandhi University and a pioneer in ichthyogeography in the Northeast region.
The new species differs from its congeners, including E danrica, E bengalensis, and E thermoicos.
The researchers were Santoshkumar Abujam, Budhin Gogoi, Arup Nama Das, DN Das, SP Biswas, and Heiko Bleher from Italy.
With the discovery of the new species, now there are 10 species under the genus Esomus.
As the fish can be successfully exploited (ornamental candidate) for trading, a common name, Hasao Sundari, has also been proposed by Prof Nimasow, based on its location of availability.
