A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species
1
Brain Research Institute Monash Sunway (BRIMS), Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Science, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia
2
Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
3
Department of Technology and Industries, Prince of Songkla University Pattani Campus, Pattani 94000, Thailand
4
College of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Can Tho University, Can Tho City 94000, Vietnam
5
College of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, Puerto Princesa Campus, Western Philippines University, Puerto Princesa City 5300, Philippines
6
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
7
Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biology 2021, 10(4), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10040286
Received: 24 December 2020
/
Revised: 19 March 2021
/
Accepted: 23 March 2021
/
Published: 1 April 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Conservation Biology and Biodiversity)
Simple Summary
The mahseer, particularly the Tor species, is of significant cultural and economic importance as a high-value freshwater food fish in the Southeast (SE) Asian region. However, overexploitation of natural stocks because of high demand and their deteriorating habitat has resulted in a marked decline of Tor species in the wild. There are 13 Tor species that inhabit SE Asian rivers. All these species share distinct morphology, which is the presence of the median lobe. The unique characteristics, including body color, mouth position, and number of lateral scales, distinguish one species from another. Nonetheless, the taxonomy of the Tor species remains unstable and confusing, with contradictory data presented by different authors from different countries for a single Tor species. Therefore, in this review, we have gathered data for the SE Asian Tor species, outlining their distribution, morphology, and genetic identification. In addition, the present review also proposes a list of valid Tor species in the SE Asian region. The proposed list will serve as a standard and template for improving SE Asia’s Tor taxonomy, enhancing the study’s continuity, and a better understanding of specific Tor species.
The king of rivers or mahseer comprises three genera: Tor, Neolissochilus, and Naziritor, under the Cyprinidae family. The Tor genus has been classified as the true mahseer due to the presence of a median lobe among the three genera. The Tor species are widely distributed across Southeast (SE) Asia, and 13 Tor species have been reported previously: Tor ater, Tor dongnaiensis, Tor douronensis, Tor laterivittatus, Tor mosal, Tor mekongensis, Tor putitora, Tor sinensis, Tor soro, Tor tambra, Tor tambroides, Tor tor and Tor yingjiangensis. However, the exact number of valid Tor species remains debatable. Different and unstandardized approaches of applying genetic markers in taxonomic identification and morphology variation within the same species have further widened the gap and ameliorated the instability of Tor species taxonomy. Therefore, synchronized and strategized research among Tor species researchers is urgently required to improve and fill the knowledge gap. This review is a current update of SE Asia’s Tor species, outlining their distribution, morphology, and genetic identification. In addition, the present review proposes that there are ten valid Tor species in the SE Asian region. This list will serve as a template and standard to improve the taxonomy of the SE Asian Tor species, which could serve as a basis to open new directions in Tor research.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
distribution; genetic marker; mahseer; morphology; Southeast Asia; Tor
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 1644 KiB)
MDPI and ACS Style
Jaafar, F.; Na-Nakorn, U.; Srisapoome, P.; Amornsakun, T.; Duong, T.-Y.; Gonzales-Plasus, M.M.; Hoang, D.-H.; Parhar, I.S. A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species. Biology 2021, 10, 286. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10040286
AMA Style
Jaafar F, Na-Nakorn U, Srisapoome P, Amornsakun T, Duong T-Y, Gonzales-Plasus MM, Hoang D-H, Parhar IS. A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species. Biology. 2021; 10(4):286. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10040286
Chicago/Turabian StyleJaafar, Faizul, Uthairat Na-Nakorn, Prapansak Srisapoome, Thumronk Amornsakun, Thuy-Yen Duong, Maria M. Gonzales-Plasus, Duc-Huy Hoang, and Ishwar S. Parhar. 2021. "A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species" Biology 10, no. 4: 286. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10040286
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
