Catfishes

New Fish Discoveries

By Balaji Vijayakrishnan

Estimated read time: 6–7 minutes

By his own admission, Balaji Vijayakrishnan has a completely unreasonable obsession with catfishes. While other people marvel at coral reefs, obsess over charismatic megafauna, or drool over colourful fish, he finds himself emotionally invested in barbels and spines — convinced, only half-jokingly, that catfish have more personality than anything else swimming. This month, true to that obsession, he's writing about nothing else.

Amblyceps vayavy — The Hidden Scamp

The family Amblycipitidae — small- to medium-sized catfishes that inhabit clear, fast flowing streams across South and Southeast Asia — counts around 50 valid species across four genera. Within it, Amblyceps is the most diverse, with 24 known species spread across a wide geographic range. The story of this particular species began in 2020, when a friend of Balaji's, Dr. Neil Soares, collected the first specimen from Kolad along with a local contact and brought it back alive. Balaji was initially sceptical that an Amblyceps could turn up in that region at all — until he saw the fish in person. Despite being barely two centimetres long, it was clearly not only a genuine Amblyceps, but a species distinct from A. accari, the only one previously known from the Western Ghats.

Despite more than five years of intensive surveys across multiple rivers, seasons, and habitats, only a handful of individuals of A. vayavy have ever been observed. In Goa's Mahadayi basin, a single specimen was collected — despite extensive sampling.

Whether the species genuinely exists in very low numbers, or is simply elusive, remains an open question — and either answer is telling. One suggests a species already at risk. The other is a reminder of how easily biodiversity can go unnoticed even in regions considered well explored. Goa, better known for its beaches than its wildlife, turns out to harbour a striking array of freshwater fishes — one that's under real pressure from pollution, mining, and habitat change.

The Genus That Grips

Glyptothorax is the most species-rich genus in the catfish family Sisoridae, with more than 130 known species stretched from the Tigris and Euphrates in the west to the Yangtze and the Sunda islands in the east. What sets it apart isn't just its range but its versatility — some species live in shaded lowland forest streams, others in the broad channels of major rivers, and others still in powerful, fast-flowing hill streams. The secret is a thoracic adhesive apparatus — a natural suction pad formed by ridged skin — that lets these fish anchor themselves to rocks against the current. In habitats where losing your grip for even a moment means being swept downstream, that adaptation makes all the difference.

Two New Discoveries

This year alone has added two new Glyptothorax species to the books — one from Nagaland, one from southwest China.

Glyptothorax sentimereni, found in the Brahmaputra system in Nagaland — a region sitting at the crossroads of two major biodiversity hotspots — carries a story well beyond taxonomy. The species is named not for geography or appearance, but as a tribute: after Sentimeren, son of Nagaland taxonomist Limaakum, who collected the specimens that made the discovery possible before passing away, tragically, prior to the study's completion. By naming the species in his son's honour, the authors immortalised his contribution to science — fulfilling one of his final wishes. Across the world in southwest China, Glyptothorax pulcher — Latin for "beautiful" — makes the opposite kind of case for the genus. Catfish are often accused of being drab, but this species, described from specimens collected in the Tuoniang River system, pushes back on that reputation on sight. It's also the first new Glyptothorax species identified from that region in more than two decades — a sign, Balaji suggests, of how much hidden diversity may still be waiting in these river systems. Three catfish, three rivers, three very different reasons to fall for a group of fish most people overlook entirely.

Read the full story in The Weekend Aquarist

The complete feature in our March 2026 issue includes the full identification guide to India's Amblyceps species by caudal fin shape and river system, the complete morphological case for A. vayavy's formal description, the full account of Glyptothorax's plicae adaptations, and the complete author credits and species references for all three discoveries.

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