AKYSIS PATRATOR 2022

Endemic To Thailand

This small sisoroid catfsh was collected during a survey along with the Karen people in the Roh Kee River in western Thailand, which eventually fows in the Mae Klong River. It is the frst fsh in the Akysis genus to be recorded in the Mae Klong basin.

“When the frst Akysis was collected I knew this was new to science and a new record for this river,” said researcher Parinya Pawangkhanant. “We thank so much the local Karen youth for helping us collect fsh in their home river.”

He shared the fnding with catfsh specialist Dr Heok Hee Ng, who helped confrm that it was a new species. A. patrator can be distinguished from its relatives by a long, low ridge between the last dorsal fn ray and the adipose fn, and its colour pattern of a light brown body with a chocolate-brown reticulate (net-like) pattern on its sides. To date, it is thought to be endemic to the Roh Kee River.

The discovery brings the total number of species in the Akysis genus to 25. The fshes of this genus are one of the smallest of catfshes, measuring up to just 60mm.

Ng, H.H., Pawangkhanant, P. and Suwannapoom, C. (2022). Plugging the gap: description of a new Akysis species represents a new record of the genus from the Mae Klong drainage in western Thailand (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Akysidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 1186: 1-9. doi. org/10.23788/IEF-1186

Photos: © Parinya Pawangkhanant