Nemacheilidae
Creators: name: Anoop, V. K.
name: Dahanukar, Neelesh
name: Raghavan, Rajeev
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Cypriniformes
Nemacheilidae

description: Key to nemacheilid genera of the Western Ghats
1. Caudal fin rounded.......................................................................... Indoreonectes
Caudal fin emarginate, truncate, or forked.................................................................. 2
2. Caudal fin emarginate or truncate........................................................................ 3
Caudal fin forked...................................................................................... 4
3. Incomplete lateral line, reaching at most above pelvic fin; suborbital-flap replaced by suborbital groove; upper lip with several rows of papillae, lower lip strongly papillated with broad median interruption and pad on each side; dorsal-fin origin anterior to pelvic-fin origin; absence or presence of pelvic-fin lobe; conspicuous ocellus at upper extremity of caudal-fin base; presence of adipose crest; body with vertically elongated blotches along lateral line, series of elongated circular or irregular blotches on body................................................................................. Paracanthocobitis
Incomplete lateral line, ending before, or after pelvic fin; mouth moderately arched; lower lip with median interruption; vertical, thin, black bar at base of caudal fin; absence, or rudimentary pelvic-fin lobe; presence, or absence of adipose crest; black spot on dorsal-fin origin; thick, dark vertical band on body................................................. ’ Schistura’
4. Presence of adipose crest; absence of caudal and dorsal-fin bands; lateral line extend beyond anal fin; head sharp and bluntly pointed; modified pectoral-fin rays, thick segmentation on first unbranched and branched fin-rays, pectoral-fin rays covered by membrane; upper lip with narrow deep incision and lower lip with wide interruption; lower adipose crest reaching anal-fin base; single row of spots on lateral line; no uniform banding pattern on dorsal side, yellowish-brown ground color, all fins hyaline................................................................................................ Koima
Absence of adipose crest; presence of caudal and dorsal-fin bands............................................... 5
5. Lip with large papillae; Lateral line complete; large and elongate head; lips fleshy, separated by deep groove; upper lip with median groove, with 2–4 large papillae on either side; lower lip with deep median groove, 2–4 large papillae on either side; 12–20 brown dorsal bars, extending across lateral line; beige to pale-yellow ground colour............. Nemachilichthys
Lips deeply furrowed, or strongly pleated.................................................................. 6
6. Lateral line beyond anal-fin origin; deeply furrowed lips, lower lip with deep median interruption; free chamber of air bladder rudimentary; well-developed axillary pelvic lobe; forked caudal fin; roundish spot at middle of caudal base; irregular network of dark-brown and yellowish-white bars and stripes on body, often fragmented into discrete spots, with darker pigmentation prevailing over lighter hues.............................................................. Mesonoemacheilus
Complete, or incomplete lateral line; lower lip with median interruption, lips strongly pleated; colour pattern consisting of black stripe, or series of disconnected blotches on lateral line, and series of saddles along dorsal mid line; dorsal and caudal fin with series of black dots.......................................................................... Nemacheilus
description: Published as part of Anoop, V. K., Dahanukar, Neelesh & Raghavan, Rajeev, 2024, Koima, a new genus of nemacheilid loach from the Western Ghats, India (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae), pp. 101-126 in Zootaxa 5538 (2) on pages 107-108, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5538.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14611558