A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Species

Overview

Journal Biology (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Apr 30

PMID 33915909

Citations 3

Authors

Faizul Jaafar

Uthairat Na-Nakorn

Prapansak Srisapoome

Thumronk Amornsakun

Thuy-Yen Duong

Maria Mojena Gonzales-Plasus

Duc-Huy Hoang

Ishwar S Parhar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The king of rivers or mahseer comprises three genera: , and under the Cyprinidae family. The genus has been classified as the true mahseer due to the presence of a median lobe among the three genera. The species are widely distributed across Southeast (SE) Asia, and 13 species have been reported previously: , , , and . However, the exact number of valid species remains debatable. Different and unstandardized approaches of applying genetic markers in taxonomic identification and morphology variation within the same species have further widened the gap and ameliorated the instability of species taxonomy. Therefore, synchronized and strategized research among species researchers is urgently required to improve and fill the knowledge gap. This review is a current update of SE Asia's species, outlining their distribution, morphology, and genetic identification. In addition, the present review proposes that there are ten valid species in the SE Asian region. This list will serve as a template and standard to improve the taxonomy of the SE Asian species, which could serve as a basis to open new directions in research.

Citing Articles

State of thermal tolerance in an endangered himalayan fish Tor putitora revealed by expression modulation in environmental stress related genes.

Kaur A, Ali S, Brraich O, Siva C, Pandey P Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):5025.

PMID: 39934267 PMC: 11814232. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-89772-w.

In silico analysis of mitochondrial DNA genes: implication for conservation of Tor putitora (Hamilton, 1822).

Thakur K, Sharma D, Sharma A, Sharma A, Mahajan D, Brar B Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):106.

PMID: 39747403 PMC: 11696798. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-83669-w.

Integrative approach for validation of six important fish species inhabiting River Poonch of north-west Himalayan region (India).

Awas M, Ahmed I, Ahmad S, Al-Anazi K, Farah M, Bhat B Front Genet. 2023; 13:1047436.

PMID: 36726718 PMC: 9886096. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1047436.

The first genome assembly and sex marker identification of Pluang Chomphu fish () from Southern Thailand.

Surachat K, Deachamag P, Wonglapsuwan M Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2022; 20:1470-1480.

PMID: 35422970 PMC: 8976102. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.03.021.

References

Esa Y, Abdul Rahim K . Genetic structure and preliminary findings of cryptic diversity of the Malaysian Mahseer (Tor tambroides Valenciennes: Cyprinidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite analyses. Biomed Res Int. 2014; 2013:170980. PMC: 3888700. DOI: 10.1155/2013/170980. View

Pavan-Kumar A, Raman S, Koringa P, Patel N, Shah T, Singh R . Complete mitochondrial genome of threatened mahseer Tor tor (Hamilton 1822) and its phylogenetic relationship within Cyprinidae family. J Genet. 2016; 95(4):853-863. DOI: 10.1007/s12041-016-0706-2. View

Yang L, Tan Z, Wang D, Xue L, Guan M, Huang T . Species identification through mitochondrial rRNA genetic analysis. Sci Rep. 2014; 4:4089. PMC: 5379257. DOI: 10.1038/srep04089. View

Dahruddin H, Hutama A, Busson F, Sauri S, Hanner R, Keith P . Revisiting the ichthyodiversity of Java and Bali through DNA barcodes: taxonomic coverage, identification accuracy, cryptic diversity and identification of exotic species. Mol Ecol Resour. 2016; 17(2):288-299. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12528. View

Guo B, Tong C, He S . Sox genes evolution in closely related young tetraploid cyprinid fishes and their diploid relative. Gene. 2009; 439(1-2):102-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2009.02.016. View

Hebert P, Cywinska A, Ball S, deWaard J . Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proc Biol Sci. 2003; 270(1512):313-21. PMC: 1691236. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2002.2218. View

Huang F, Liu M, Ye C, Liu S . The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Tor sinensis (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae). Mitochondrial DNA. 2013; 26(5):712-3. DOI: 10.3109/19401736.2013.843087. View

Karin B, Das I, Jackman T, Bauer A . Ancient divergence time estimates in support the existence of Pleistocene barriers on the exposed Sunda Shelf. PeerJ. 2017; 5:e3762. PMC: 5661453. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3762. View

Hoang H, Phm H, Durand J, Trn N, Phan P . Mahseers genera Tor and Neolissochilus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from southern Vietnam. Zootaxa. 2015; 4006(3):551-68. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4006.3.8. View

10.

Tamura K, Nei M . Estimation of the number of nucleotide substitutions in the control region of mitochondrial DNA in humans and chimpanzees. Mol Biol Evol. 1993; 10(3):512-26. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040023. View

11.

Mohanty M, Jayasankar P, Sahoo L, Das P . A comparative study of COI and 16 S rRNA genes for DNA barcoding of cultivable carps in India. Mitochondrial DNA. 2013; 26(1):79-87. DOI: 10.3109/19401736.2013.823172. View

12.

Sati J, Goel C, Kumar R, Ali S, Patiyal R, Singh V . Complete mitochondrial genome organization of Tor putitora. Mitochondrial DNA. 2013; 25(4):278-9. DOI: 10.3109/19401736.2013.800505. View

13.

Norfatimah M, Teh L, Salleh M, Mat Isa M, SitiAzizah M . Complete mitochondrial genome of Malaysian Mahseer (Tor tambroides). Gene. 2014; 548(2):263-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2014.07.044. View

14.

Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K . MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across Computing Platforms. Mol Biol Evol. 2018; 35(6):1547-1549. PMC: 5967553. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy096. View

15.

Sati J, Sah S, Pandey H, Ali S, Sahoo P, Pande V . Phylogenetic relationship and molecular identification of five Indian Mahseer species using COIsequence. J Environ Biol. 2014; 34(5):933-9. View

16.

Mani I, Kumar R, Singh M, Kushwaha B, Nagpure N, Srivastava P . Karyotypic diversity and evolution of seven mahseer species (Cyprinidae) from India. J Fish Biol. 2010; 75(5):1079-91. DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02379.x. View

17.

DeSalle R, Schierwater B, Hadrys H . MtDNA: The small workhorse of evolutionary studies. Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2016; 22(5):873-887. DOI: 10.2741/4522. View

18.

Nguyen T, Na-Nakorn U, Sukmanomon S, Ziming C . A study on phylogeny and biogeography of mahseer species (Pisces: Cyprinidae) using sequences of three mitochondrial DNA gene regions. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2008; 48(3):1223-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.006. View

19.

Qin T, Chen Z, Xu L, Zaw P, Kyaw Y, Maung K . Five newly recorded Cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) in Myanmar. Zool Res. 2017; 38(5):300-309. PMC: 5717430. DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.063. View

20.

Sulaiman Z, Heok Hui T, Lim K . Annotated checklist of freshwater fishes from Brunei Darussalam, Borneo. Zootaxa. 2018; 4379(1):24-46. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4379.1.2. View