Context: Recently, a new research employing an integrative approach of evidence-gathering using morphological and genetic analysis and based on a fresh collection of Dawkinsia, a genus of cyprinid fish specimens from the Western Ghats, has resulted in the discovery of three new fish species.
Key Findings of the Research

• Scientists from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, have unravelled the diversity in the filament barbs of the Western Ghats.
• Filament barbs are a group of small freshwater fishes found in the rivers of peninsular India and Sri Lanka, where nine species are known under the genus Dawkinsia.
• They are popular among aquarium hobbyists and are wild-collected and captive-bred for trade.
• This research has also cleared long-standing taxonomic confusions associated with the small cyprinids of the genus Dawkinsia, paving the way for improved conservation prioritisation and attention for these species.
• The research has also helped to stabilise the identity of Dawkinsia assimilis and Dawkinsia lepida, the species of filament barbs described by British ichthyologists in the 1800s.
• This study has also highlighted the importance of using an integrative approach to understanding the taxonomy of complex groups of fishes, especially those that are cryptic and difficult to distinguish by external morphology.

About Western Ghats

• The Western Ghats, also known as ‘Sahyadri’, constitute a 1600 km long mountain chain along the west coast of India
• It runs parallel to the West coast of India from the river Tapi in the north to Kanyakumari in the south.
• It covers a total area of 160,000 square kms and traverses through six States viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• It has rich heritage of flora and fauna .
• It experiences tropical humid climate in lower reaches, and climate is cooler in the upper reaches. The western side of the Ghat receives more rainfall than the eastern side
• There are four major forest types in the Western Ghats: evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, and dry deciduous
• Western Ghats was declared as a world heritage site in 2012 by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).