A new loach (Schistura obliquofascia) identified from Uttarakhand, India.
A new species of nemacheilid loach, Schistura obliquofascia, is described from Kalsa, a stream near Chanfi, tributary of Gola River, Ganga basin in Uttarakhand, India by a group of researchers from Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research (ICAR), Bhimtal and Department of Life Sciences, Manipur University. The new species is characterized by: 12–14 oblique olivaceous dark bars on the body and three rows of black spots on the dorsal fin; lateral line complete with 104–112 pores, dorsal fin with 3–4 simple and 8½ branched rays; 8+8 branched rays in caudal fin; dorsal adipose crest prominent; males lacking suborbital flap; and 10–11 pores in preoperculo-mandibular canal. The sequence of the cytochrome b gene of length 307 base pairs was used for molecular characterization of the species. The description along with figure of the new species has been published in Zootaxa 3586:255-263 (2012).
