Only a single Amblypharyngodon species in Sri Lanka

Citation: Sudasinghe H, Pethiyagoda R, Maduwage K, Meegaskumbura M (2019) The identity of the Sri LankanAmblypharyngodon (Teleostei, Cyprinidae). ZooKeys 820: 25–49. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.820.29632
Using an integrative taxonomic approach, using samples from throughout their geographic range, we show that there is only a single Amblypharyngodon species in Sri Lanka-  Amblypharyngodon grandisquamis Jordan & Starks, 1917. It is a species endemic to Sri Lanka, distributed across the lowlands of both of the island’s main climatic zones. It is distinguished from all other species of Amblypharyngodon, including the three species recorded from peninsular India (A. mola, A. microlepis, and A. melettinus), by a suite of characters that includes a body depth of 26.9–31.2% of the standard length (SL), 42–56 scales in the lateral series (of which usually 8–16 are pored), 20–24 circumpeduncular scales, 14–17 scale rows between the origins of the dorsal and pelvic fins, a dorsal-fin height of 21.1–27.6% SL, 18–19 caudal vertebrae and an eye diameter of 22.7–30.5% of the head length. Amblypharyngodon grandisquamis differs from A. melettinus and A. mola by uncorrected pairwise genetic distances of more than 9% and 6%, respectively, for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene.