Tor khudree
Encyclopedia
The Deccan Mahseer or Black Mahseer (Tor khudree) is a large freshwater
game fish of the Carp family found in fast flowing rivers of India
. The local name is Mahseer
or Maha seer and this was considered as one of the greatest of game fish in India
. Found throughout India
, but found of the largest size and in the greatest abundance in mountain-streams or those which are rocky.
The fish moves to upper reaches of small streams to spawn. They feed on plants, insects, shrimps and mollusks and may be grown in ponds. While large fish of over a metre and 45 kg in weight have been recorded in the past, such sizes are no longer found.
complete, 2 to 2.5 rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin ; 9 rows before the dorsal. Colour silvery or greenish along the upper half of the body, becoming silvery shot with gold on the sides and beneath. Lower fins reddish yellow.
H. S. Thomas in his Rod in India quotes a note by G. P. Sanderson
:
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
game fish of the Carp family found in fast flowing rivers of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The local name is Mahseer
Mahseer
Mahseer is the common name used for the genera Tor, Neolissochilus, and Naziritor in the family Cyprinidae . The name Mahseer is however more often restricted to members of the genus Tor...
or Maha seer and this was considered as one of the greatest of game fish in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Found throughout India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, but found of the largest size and in the greatest abundance in mountain-streams or those which are rocky.
The fish moves to upper reaches of small streams to spawn. They feed on plants, insects, shrimps and mollusks and may be grown in ponds. While large fish of over a metre and 45 kg in weight have been recorded in the past, such sizes are no longer found.
Description
Length of the head is 4 to 5 inches and the widest point of the body is at 4.3 to 5.5 inches from the snout. The eyes are at 6.25 to 7.5 inches behind the snout in moderate sized specimens but as much as 3.5 inches smaller specimens. The lips are thick, with an uninterrupted fold across the lower jaw, and with both the upper and lower lips in some specimens produced in the mesial line. The maxillary pair of barbels are longer than the rostral, and extending to below the last third of the eye. Fins the dorsal arises opposite the ventral, and is three fourths as high as the body; its last undivided ray is smooth, osseous, strong, and of varying length and thickness. Himalayan, Bengal, and Central Indian specimens generally have the spine strong, and from one half to two thirds the length of the head, it rarely exceeds this extent. In Canara, Malabar, and Southern India, where the lips are largely developed, the spine is very much stronger and as long as the head excluding the snout. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout ; it reaches the ventral, which is little shorter. Anal laid flat does not reach the base of the caudal, which is deeply forked. Lateral lineLateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
complete, 2 to 2.5 rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin ; 9 rows before the dorsal. Colour silvery or greenish along the upper half of the body, becoming silvery shot with gold on the sides and beneath. Lower fins reddish yellow.
Record catches
George P. Sanderson
George Peress Sanderson was born in India in 1848, the son of Rev. Daniel Sanderson, who was a Methodist missionary in India from 1842 to 1867. George Sanderson was sent home for schooling to his father’s family in Cockermouth, Cumbria...
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