Chinese ‘Red’ Mahseer (Tor sinensis)

Description

Tor sinensis, theChineseorRed mahseeris a species ofmahseernative to theMekong River.[1][2]It is known with certainty only fromYunnan,China; reports from Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand require confirmation.[1]
It is one of four currently valid species described from China, the others beingTor laterivittatus(dark-striped mahseer),Tor polylepis(multi-scaled mahseer), andTor yingjiangensis(Yingjiang mahseer).

Description

Tor sinensisgrows to 46.5cm (18.3in)in standard length. Juveniles are silvery, but adults and subadults have a deep, dark midlateral stripe. The body is darkish above and brownish beneath.Pectoral, pelvic, and caudal finsare deep red.[2]

Maurice Kottelatis among those who claim that insufficient work has been done on establishing specimens from confirmed species populations when identifying mahseer species.[3]This is common across the species of Southeast Asia in particular, and includes claimed distinctions between Tor sinensis and Tor laterivattatus.