Tor tor

For the Indonesian dance, see Tor-tor dance.

Tor mahseer
Original illustration of Tor tor by Haludar 1822
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Tor
Species:
T. tor
Binomial name
Tor tor
(Hamilton, 1822)
Synonyms[2]
  • )
  • Barbus tor
    (Hamilton, 1822)
  • Cyprinus tor
    (Hamilton, 1822)
  • Puntius tor
    (Hamilton, 1822)
  • Tor hamiltoni
    (Gray, 1834)
  • Tor mosal mahanadicus
    (David, 1953)

Tor tor, commonly known as the tor mahseer or tor barb, is a species of cyprinid fish found in fast-flowing rivers and streams with rocky bottoms in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan. It is a commercially important food and game fish.

In the Himalayan rivers, the population is rapidly declining through its native range, including some evidence of catastrophic collapse, due to pollution,[3] overfishing, the effects of dam building, climate change and introductions of other mahseer species. Until the 1980s, Tor tor was the most populous of the Himalayan mahseers in those rivers where robust species diversity monitoring had taken place.[4][5]

There are also declining populations in rivers of Central India, including north-flowing tributaries of the Ganges/Yamuna basin, the Narmada basin [6][7] and as far south as the Savitri River [8] in Maharashtra. Given the huge differences in climatic and riverine conditions, careful work on species identity is needed to establish if these mahseer are also Tor tor, or an undescribed species.

It is a large fish, reaching 36 cm (14 in) at maturity, but lengths of 150 cm (4.9 ft) have been recorded,[1][2] but the maximum length is 200 cm.[9] The fish is well armoured by their record large scales, each reaching up to 10 cm (3.9 in) in length.[10]

  1. ^ a b Rayamajhi, A.; Jha, B.R.; Sharma, C.M.; Pinder, A.; Harrison, A.; Katwate, U.; Dahanukar, N. (2018). "Tor tor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T166534A126321898. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T166534A126321898.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b R. Froese; D. Pauly, eds. (2014). "Tor tor (Hamilton, 1822)". FishBase. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Edds, D., D. Gillette, T. Maskey, and M. Mahato. 2002. Hot-soda process paper mill effluent effects on fishes and macroinvertebrates in the Narayani River, Nepal. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 17(4): 543-554. | Request PDF". Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  4. ^ Edds, D. (1993). Fish Assemblage Structure and Environmental Correlates in Nepal's Gandaki River. Copeia, 1993(1), 48-60. doi:10.2307/1446294
  5. ^ — Abigail Griffin (2016-02-24). "UNC Asheville recognized as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars | Mountain Xpress". Mountainx.com. Retrieved 2020-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "A case study of the Narmada River system in India with particular reference to the impact of dams on its ecology and fisheries". Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  7. ^ "Dammed and mined, Narmada can no longer support people living in the river valley". Firstpost. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  8. ^ Unmesh Katwate Deepak Apte. "Where have all the mahseers gone?". Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  9. ^ Fishbase-Tor tor
  10. ^ McGrouther, M. "Fish scales". Australian Museum. Retrieved 29 September 2016.