About Dawkinsia filamentosa (Valenciennes, 1844)
Dawkinsia filamentosa, commonly called the filament barb, blackspot barb, or poovali paral, is a species of barb. Young individuals of this species show very little color and have black spots; they begin to develop more color at three months old. This fish is a fast swimmer. Males of the species are larger than females, and males fertilize eggs by swimming through the egg cloud released by females. This species is endemic to the Western Ghats mountain region of southern India, where it occurs across the area. It is found in the Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and possibly only the southern part of Karnataka. It is most commonly found in coastal floodplains near these three Southwest Indian states. The species' type locality is Alleppey, also called Alappuzha, a location in Kerala state, southwestern India that lies between Vembanad Lake and the Arabian Sea. According to Pethiyagoda and Kottelat's 2005 research, this species is most common in lowland coastal floodplains. It inhabits both fresh and brackish waters, including rivers, estuaries, coastal marshes, and reservoirs.
