Glyptothorax cavia (Hamilton, 1822)

[N]—Catfish

Taxonomy. Original description: Pimelodus cavia Hamilton, 1822: 188, 378 (Patgong, northern Bengal, India; no types known).— Afghanistan synonyms: None.—Revisions: Jayaram (2006: 217).—Illustration: Burgess (1989: 132, fig.).

Status in Afghanistan. First listed by Coad (1981: 16) as possible distributed species in Afghanistan; confirmed by Coad (2014: 279; 2015: 229).—Afghanistan materials: CMN.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Afghanistan: Kabul River drainages.—General distribution: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.—Habitat: This species inhabits swift-flowing, larger rivers with a substrate of sand and gravel or rocks. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Locally consumed, but of no commercial importance.

Conservation. Conservation status in Afghanistan: Unknown.—IUCN: LC (Ng 2010c).—Threats: The threats to this species are unknown, since there is little information on the biology of this species and therefore the impact of potential threats (especially those of an anthropogenic nature) remains unknown. The current threats to aquatic biodiversity in all of its known distribution have also not been adequately identified.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—Low priority for conservation action.