Question

The alien species of catfish which is ______ which is a threat to the local catfish of our rivers.

Answer 1

Hint: This fish had been recently discovered into the southern part of India in the state of Kerala where these fishes were found in the paddy fields and sometimes were spotted in the vegetation lands.

Complete answer:
These fishes were morphologically different from the normal catfishes as they do not have any dorsal fin and the anal fin is there with a long base and it is also very confluent with the caudal fin. The mouth of these fishes is directed towards the upward direction. These fishes are found in the crypts on the ground and it is why they are named as kryptoglanis. The spines are also not observed in these fishes. According to the scientist the projection of the jaws in the upward direction has a special purpose but it is not yet known. The current local catfish which is residing in our rivers are facing threat from these alien catfishes because the eating capacity, and the mechanism of catching its prey and eating them is evolved and better in the latter catfishes. With the help of these evolved features the availability of prey and food is not upto the level as it was earlier before the arrival of the alien species. Decrease in availability of food will lead to starving of local fishes and eventually with the passage of time the number of species of the local catfishes will decrease and at one point of time they will extinct due to the natural selection.

So, the correct answer is Kryptoglanis shajii.

Note: The threat to the catfish of our rivers is due to the different alignment of jaws in the mouth of the alien catfish which these new species can use to make the our catfishes their prey and thus endangering it.