Tor khudree, the Deccan mahseer, Khudree mahseer, or black mahseer, is a large freshwater fish of the carp family found in major rivers and reservoirs of India and Sri Lanka. The local name is mahseer or maha seer and this was considered one of the greatest of game fish in India. Found throughout India, following large-scale introductions of artificially-bred fish across the country , but found of the largest size and in the greatest abundance in mountain or rocky streams. The fish as originally described by Sykes in his November 1838 paper 'On the Fishes of the Dukhun' as Barbus khudree, is a silvery-bluish coloured fish, with blood red fins or fins tipped with a bluish tinge. The type locality is the Mula-Mutha River close to the Indian city ofPune, a part of the Krishna River basin. Although there have been efforts to artificially breed this mahseer since the early1970's, there is no way to determine if these fish are Tor khudree, as the populations within the type locality have been wiped out. All recent work on establishing the genetic identity of Tor khudree has been through sampling artificially-bred stock, from which it is not possible to be certain of the heritage of the original stock, although they are reported to have been sourced in the Mula-Mutha River. It has been reported that the fish moves to upper reaches of small streams to spawn, which is a common spawning strategy of mahseer. In the River Cauvery, where the fish has been introduced since the mid-1970s, so-called 'blue-finned' mahseer, which have been discovered to be genetically identical to the artificially-bred stock from Tata Power's Lonavla facility, are found in spawning condition, in the main river at all times of year. They feed on plants, fruits, insects, shrimps and molluscs and may be grown in ponds. They are predatory, and even prey on smaller mahseer. While large fish of over a metre and 45 kg in weight have been recorded, such sizes are no longer found in the type locality. In the River Cauvery, fish to over 30 kg are being caught in recent years.
Description
Length of the head is 4 to 5 inches and the widest point of the body is at 4.3 to 5.5 inches from the snout. The eyes are at 6.25 to 7.5 inches behind the snout in moderate sized specimens but as much as 3.5 inches smaller specimens. The lips are thick, with an uninterrupted fold across the lower jaw, and with both the upper and lower lips in some specimens produced in the mesial line. The maxillary pair of barbels are longer than the rostral, and extending to below the last third of the eye. Fins the dorsal arises opposite the ventral, and is three fourths as high as the body; its last undivided ray is smooth, osseous, strong, and of varying length and thickness. Himalayan, Bengal, and Central Indian specimens generally have the spine strong, and from one half to two thirds the length of the head, it rarely exceeds this extent. In Canara, Malabar, and Southern India, where the lips are largely developed, the spine is very much stronger and as long as the head excluding the snout. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout ; it reaches the ventral, which is little shorter. Anal laid flat does not reach the base of the caudal, which is deeply forked. Lateral line complete, 2 to 2.5 rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin ; 9 rows before the dorsal. Colour silvery or greenish along the upper half of the body, becoming silvery shot with gold on the sides and beneath. Lower fins reddish yellow. These two fish from brood stock of Tor khudree sampled at Karnataka state fishery department hatchery at Harangi reservoir demonstrate the difficulties of making correct identifications. One is a slim-bodied fish with a more golden body and orange-coloured fins, the other is deep-bodied with a silver-grey body colouration and blue fins. Both are genetically identical to the stocks known as Tor khudree sourced from the Tata Power hatchery at Lonavla, Maharastra.
Status
Conservation
T. khudree has also been recently reported as one of the winter exclusive fishes in the Chambal river basin of Central India. Ranching and creation of a winter-time freshwater protected area have been recommended at Ghatbilod dedicated for conservation of this Mahseer species.
As an invasive species
Despite its otherwise endangered status, an introduced population of what is possibly this species is considered invasive in the Kaveri river system, to which it was introduced in the 1980s. It has driven the endemic Tor remadevii to near-extinction and is now the most abundant large fish in the river basin. However, the blue-finned mahseer's classification is under scrutiny, as it may be a different, undescribed species.
Record catches
H. S. Thomas in his Rod in India quotes a note by G. P. Sanderson: Note: the head and skin of this fish were moved from Bangalore Museum and are now held in the Regional Museum of Natural History Mysore. A research visit by a team from Mahseer Trust determined, through taxonomic investigation, that this fish was clearly an endemic Tor remadevii, not an introduced Tor khudree.
