Morphological relationships of Devario (Family- Cyprinidae) morphotypes/ species

Abstract

Devario also known as Danio is a fish Genus that contributes to the diversity of freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka. Devario species is also important in aquarium trade mainly because of their bright colouration, body shape and small size. Devario pathirana is the most recently identified species, endemic to Sri Lanka and has restricted distribution in the Nilwala River. Devario malabaricus is the commonly found species. Presence of a third species Devario aequipinnatus is stated in literature, however the identity of this species is not clear and not confirmed. D. malabaricus has been synonymised with D. aequipinnatus and some consider that they are two species. In aquarium trade both names are used interchangeably. These uncertainties in Devario species are not much studied. Taxonomic categorization of individuals into species level mainly based on morphological characters and therefore present study conducted to reveal the morphological relationships of Devario morphotypes/species.