Photo: AravindManoj, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Arulius barb
Dawkinsia arulius
10 cm
Adult size
300 L
Minimum volume
8
Minimum group
8 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Dawkinsia
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- shoal
In the wild
Overview
The genus Dawkinsia, created in 2012, honours the biologist Richard Dawkins for his contribution to popular science. This barb, whose males have filamentous dorsal fins, is listed as endangered; it seems to have disappeared from its type locality, probably because of a dam built upstream.
- Scientific name
- Dawkinsia arulius (Jerdon, 1849)
- Classification
- Cypriniformes › Cyprinidae
- IUCN Red List
- Endangered (EN)
Natural habitat
Southern India: Kaveri (Cauvery) basin
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It prefers clean, well-oxygenated, flowing rivers and streams with bottoms of gravel, pebbles and rocks. The monsoon makes the flow vary greatly there, to the point of partial drying.
Behaviour
It suits a peaceful river tank, with other shoaling cyprinids and loaches, or with any calm fish too large to be swallowed. Keep it in a shoal. An omnivore, it accepts dry food and live or frozen prey.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth