Indostomus

Indostomus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gasterosteiformes
Family:	Indostomidae Prashad & Mukerji, 1929
Genus:	Indostomus Prashad & Mukerji, 1929

Indostomus is the sole genus of the monogeneric family Indostomidae, indigenous to freshwater habitats in Indochina. The indostomids are small, tropical fish in the stickleback order Gasterosteiformes, and are closely related to seahorses and pipefishes (family Syngnathidae).

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:

• Indostomus crocodilus Britz & Kottelat, 1999
• Indostomus paradoxus Prashad & Mukerji, 1929 (Armoured Stickleback, Pipe fish)
• Indostomus spinosus Britz & Kottelat, 1999

The first indostomid, Indostomus paradoxus, was discovered in the 1920s in a lake in Burma. It was named the armoured stickleback, but is also called paradox fish and Burma stichling. The fish was morphologically unique, so the new family Indostomidae was erected for it. It is 3 to 4 centimeters in length and much smaller in width and height, similar to the pipefish. The body is extremely thin and cylindrical, especially caudally as it tapers to its thinnest point and ends in a fan-shaped tail fin. The body is thin and twiglike, covered in hard scutes, and bears five spines on its back and six on its operculum. It is a slow-moving, bottom-feeding fish that picks for food in the mud of swamps and rivers.

In the 1990s two other species were discovered and placed into the genus Indostomus. I. crocodilus lives in Thailand and has habits similar to I. paradoxus. Indostomus spinosus was found in the Mekong River, its tributaries, and adjoining swamps. In 2001 I. tiliosi was listed as a possible new species, but has not yet been officially described.

Further reading

• Britz, R. and M. Kottelat. (1999). Two new species of gasterosteiform fishes of the genus Indostomus (Teleostei: Indostomidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 10(4):327-336.
• Berra, Tim M. (2001). Freshwater Fish Distribution. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-093156-7

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). "Indostomidae" in FishBase. October 2012 version.