Uttarakhand, North India

[Shovelnose]

I have been living in the desert regions of north western India (Rajasthan) for the past few months. Needles to say, there were very little distractions other than the presence of Monitors (Varanus bengalensis) inside my factory premises. Now, I will also be spending time in the Himalayan state of Uttarkhand, a far cry from my erstwhile state. While I haven't found the time to go on a full fledged collection trip yet, I made a couple of small trips in the neighbourhood over the past 2 weeks.





The first spot, a small paddy canal behind my apartment.




Trichogaster fasciata.




Trichogaster chuna - Both these species were extremely common in the canal.






Puntius cf. chola



Channa punctata





Heteropneustes fossilis



Esomus sp.


As is evident, I was bereft of my fishing gear (back home in south India) and I had to bribe a friend to take pictures while I held onto the fish. Collection was good until a large snake ended up in the net. With all the slush, it was hard to identify which species it was. So I had no choice but to release the snake and abandon collecting.


I spent a few hours collecting in the Kosi River today and ended up with a few Puntius and loaches. I will post the pictures once I transfer them onto my laptop.

[Bas Pels]

I have weak spot for loaches, so please do post any pictures you might have of them

[Shovelnose]

Acanthocobitis sp.



I am not sure what this is, will sit on this tomorrow. I have no aquariums here, all the hardy fish I keep in a large water tank while the finickier fish end up in formalin. I have set my eyes on a part of the Kosi River which runs like a rapid and is only 50 kms from home. I can virtually smell the sisorids and the balitorids when I pass the area. Next week for sure.

[Shovelnose]

The Kosi River.

[Shovelnose]

Made a short trip to the Gola Nadhi which is at the base of the Himalayas. Found a few interesting fish including a species of Glyptothorax and some really nice loaches. I have borrowed a camera today and will put it to use tomorrow to take some good pictures of the fish for ID. In the meanwhile,






Glyptothorax sp.






Not sure if this is Barilius shacra or B.tileo.






Unknown loach.






Unknown loach 2.










The location, Gola Nadhi at the base of the Himalayas.








View from my hotel room.

[Silurus]

Loach 2 is some kind of Aborichthys, I think.

[exasperatus2002]

Nice. I missed my calling. Would love to go collecting. Please Keep us updated.

[Shovelnose]

With access to a camera and a desktop came great relief, although it did come late at night and I was stuck taking pictures in the dark. Quite a peaceful location this, anyone coming to India should try and visit the Himalayas. I bet the first thought that comes to mind is retirement.

Fish from the Gola River.








Barilius bendelesis ???










Glyptothorax alaknandi ???






Garra sp.






Another Garra sp.




Schistura obliquofascia ???






Aborichthys sp. ???





Unknown Loach 1.








Are all three Barilius bendelesis???




My poor home made, hand welded push net. I purchased a mosquito net and stitched it onto frame. Unfortunately, the flow of the river was much greater than I expected and by the time I stopped collecting, the net looked like it had run into a herd of bovines in an advanced stage of starvation. It is presently awaiting repair.


From the Kosi River



Schistura cf. beavani


Spent last Sunday at angling at a nearby dam in the neighbouring with a bunch of cold beers. I a not much of an angling person really, my equipment this time around was a small length of nylon and a hook.I know most (all???) anglers on this forum will consider this a blasphemy, but this is the only angling gear I am comfortable with. I prefer direct contact with the line as I receive more feedback from the smaller fish like barbs as well.




The catch. I plan to keep going back there as the location is blissfully isolated and the beer went perfectly well with the weather and the fish caught.




The habitat.


I plan to head up the hills in the coming months in search of the more obscure catfish like Exostoma and Glyptosternum and also cyprinid fish like Schizothorax and Labeo, especially Labeo almorae .


To part with, an insect with rad ordnance that I think is following me around.

[Shovelnose]

A few more cyprinids from the Kosi river.




Puntius conchonius




Tor tor.






Chagunius cf. chagunio, an obscure but gorgeous fish from the north. There are a few more pictures in my camera, I will post them soon.

[Shovelnose]

I am sure most Asian catfish aficionados have heard of the Ramganga River in India at some point of time. This river plays host to the magnificent Bagarius yarrelli and with this in mind, I headed there on Sunday to see if I could catch a glimpse of them. In my overeagerness to do the same, I planned my travel badly and landed 40 kms before my intended destination. Luckily, the Kosi river also runs through Ramnagar and I was able to spend some time collecting there.




A fisherman's catch - Cirrhinus cirrhosus and Labeo cf. rohita .




Labeo calbasu








The Kosi River in Ramnagar, makes for a good postcard I would say.


The first spot was a small stream running out of the dam. Found an old towel to use as a net here.







Labeo cf. pangusia










I initially thought this was a Garra but I am now convinced it is not. A Crossocheilus sp perhaps???


The next spot was the Kosi River itself.






Tor tor




Barilius cf. bendelesis












And this stunning Garra sp. I am calling it Garra sp. 'Predator' until I get a confirmed ID.

[minipol]

Balaji, very interesting topic.
Apparently, I missed it previously

[Shane]

I had as well. Great thread.
-Shane

[Birger]

And this stunning Garra sp. I am calling it Garra sp. 'Predator' until I get a confirmed ID.

Interesting little fella...would be interesting to see what behavior justifies the head being this way.

Birger

[Shovelnose]

I have seen this in a few other cyprinids like Garra stenorynchus, G.bicornuta, Schismatorynchos nukta, Bangana Sp. etc. I am not sure what the purpose is though, I can only guess it is a combination of tubercles and unique osteological development.

[Shovelnose]

Schismatorynchos nukta





Bangana sp.


Edit : To add images.

[Bas Pels]

I once read come Cyprinids have things growing on the male heads in mating saison. This fish might be an example? I never saw them, so forgive me if it's nonsense

[Shane]

Yes, many male cyprinids develop nuptial tubercles during the spawning season.

-Shane

[racoll]

I initially thought this was a Garra but I am now convinced it is not. A Crossocheilus sp perhaps???

Crossocheilus latius, no?

[Shovelnose]

Yes, many male cyprinids develop nuptial tubercles during the spawning season.

-Shane

Yes, but the shape of the head and the tubercles are permanent features in the fish I have mentioned.

Crossocheilus latius, no?

Yeah, although I guess Crossocheilus cf. latius is a safer ID at the moment??? Considering its extremely wide range, I wonder if it is actually a complex.



Also, locals there refer to Bagarius as 'gawnch' and not 'goonch' as we know presently.

[Shovelnose]

Went on a short trip in search of sosorids yesterday.







For Bas Pels, a Schistura sp.





These north Indian barils are messing with my head.





I have this pegged as a Schizothorax sp.






Garra sp.






The collection locality.

[Bas Pels]

For Bas Pels, a Schistura sp.

Wow, thank you

I do envy you, being able to catch them om 'a short trip' ...

[Shovelnose]

Well, I am really enjoying my stay here so far. For the trip, I just had to skip lunch, leave work early and travel for an hour. I am used to travelling for hundreds of kilometres to collect Schistura semiarmatus but this is a rather pleasant experience I should say.


It was a holiday yesterday and I was able to do another short trip. Sadly, it was marred by a sudden dip in temperature and a bike breakdown. As luck would have it, the bike broke down near a dam, need I say more. A trip in search of obscure sisorids went in vain but I encountered a rather delightful catfish instead, my first encounter in the wild with this family. I am getting some 'real' work done presently, will post the pictures tomorrow.

[Shovelnose]

Apparently it was a good thing the bike broke down as I had planned to enter Nepal (Mahakali River) but people were denied entry due to the upcoming elections there.





Another lovely Garra sp. , the body was a dark shade of grey when collected.





Acanthocobitis cf. botia







Mastacemblus sp.








Catch of the day for me, an Amblyceps sp. HH, is an id possible at this size???






Amblyceps sp. fry.







The habitat.





The Nanak Sagar Dam near the Nepal border.

[minipol]

Great pics again, look's like fast flowing water.
I like the garra and the Mastacemblus.
Had species of both when I had my Azië tank setup, unfortunately not the correct ones but close.
Thanks for the pics

[Silurus]

HH, is an id possible at this size???

Possibly. Not sure what these are, though. Definitely not A. mangois. Possibly A. tenuispinis or something unnamed.

[Shovelnose]

A few more pictures of the Amblyceps sp.



Another trip to my usual haunt, Gola Nadhi, yielded some interesting results.





Schizothorax species with another cyprinid. I initially thought they were juvenile Raiamas but I now think they are juvenile Barilius. Other species collected were the usual Schistura, Garra mix.


The second spot was was around 30 kms uphill and fairly close to Nainital. Snowfall in Nainital caused the temperature to dip below 5 C but the fish collected did much to mask all the cold.









The largest Schistura I have ever seen.









Unknown loach, turned out to be a nightmare to shoot.







Freshly collected.





Stress colouration.








TAA.

This is definitely the roughest handling I have done with a sisorid but this specimen seems to be quite hardy when compared to the other sisorids I have collected. I am presently trying to keep it alive but with winter fast fading, I don't know how long it is going to last.







The collection locality.







The spot where the Glyptothorax was collected from.





A video of the collection locality.




Fresh snow, some distance away


I think collections will yield better results post March. Also, I think I ought to head for higher altitudes to bag the more obscure sisorids.



To part with, a few pictures of a fairly common sight in this region.

[meseek]

very interesting topic & nice pics.

[TheFishGuy1]

Schismatorynchos nukta





Bangana sp.


Edit : To add images.

What are those tubercles for?