A handy note on the basic taxonomic features of five <i>Schizothorax</i> species of Kashmir Himalaya, India

The identification and taxonomy of fishes is a prerequisite to studying them from a biological perspective for their conservation and management. The basic source of taxonomy and evolutionary studies in the case of fishes are morphological attributes. The present study was undertaken to study in detail some of the specific morphological attributes of five Schizothorax species (S. plagiostomus, S. labiatus, S. esocinus, S. curvifrons and S. niger) native to Kashmir Himalayas. During the present study, the analysis of morphometric and meristic attributes and pictorial representation of the five Schizothorax species revealed that some of the typical features of the Schizothorax species viz., the shape of body and head, structure of mouthparts especially the shape of the lower lips and the arrangement and number of gill rakers are quite significant to vary among the five native Schizothorax species, thus could be considered important attributes for their identification process. The present study could serve as a handy note for quick on-spot identification of the five Schizothorax species in the field without consulting whole literature for their identification that otherwise would be a laborious and time-consuming process.