Tor (fish)

Tor
Golden mahseer (Tor putitora) Babai River, Nepal
Tor tambroides, a controversial species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Cypriniformes
Suborder: Cyprinoidei
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Tor
J. E. Gray, 1833
Type species
Tor hamiltonii
Gray, 1834

Tor is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cyprinidae, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related fishes. The fishes in this genus, and some related genera, are commonly known as mahseers, though this genus is often distinguished as the true mahseer.. These fishes are found in Asia.

Species

Tor is distinguished from its relatives, such as Naziritor and Neolissochilus, by the presence of a median lobe on the mandible/lower lip. The median lobe may alternatively be described as an "interrupted fold or groove".

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

The genetically distinct yellow mahseer of Sri Lanka, sometimes referred to as Tor khudree longispinis, may be recognized as its own species.

The following cladogram is based on a phylogenetic tree rendered by maximum likelihood analysis of the first concatenated dataset from a 2024 study, with undescribed species being left unnamed or marked with cf.:

Neolissochilus benasi

⊞Tor spp.
⊟

Tor khudree

Tor sp.1 (Ban Chaung)

Tor sp.2 (Putao Market, from the Irrawaddy)

Tor tambroides

Tor sp.3 (Manipur)

Tor mekongensis

Tor tambra (West Malaysia)

Tor tambra (Java)

Tor tambroides (Java)

Tor tambra (West Malaysia)

Tor tambroides (East Malaysia)

Tor dongnaiensis

Tor tambra (Mekong)

Neolissochilus spp.

References

  1. 1 2 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Torinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Pinder, Adrian C. (March 2020). CONSERVING THE ICONIC AND HIGHLY THREATENED MAHSEER FISHES OF SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA (PDF) (Thesis). Bournemouth University. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  3. ↑ Nguyen, Thuy T.T.; Na-Nakorn, Uthairat; Sukmanomon, Srijanya; Ziming, Chen (September 2008). "A study on phylogeny and biogeography of mahseer species (Pisces: Cyprinidae) using sequences of three mitochondrial DNA gene regions". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48 (3): 1223–1231. Bibcode:2008MolPE..48.1223N. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.006.
  4. ↑ Jaafar, Faizul; Na-Nakorn, Uthairat; Srisapoome, Prapansak; Amornsakun, Thumronk; Duong, Thuy-Yen; Gonzales-Plasus, Maria Mojena; Hoang, Duc-Huy; Parhar, Ishwar S. (1 April 2021). "A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species". Biology. 10 (4): 286. doi:10.3390/biology10040286. PMC 8065745. PMID 33915909.
  5. ↑ Desai, V. R. (2003). SYNOPSIS OF BIOLOGICAL DATA ON THE TOR MAHSEER Tor tor (Hamilton, 1822) (PDF). Rome: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS. ISBN 92-5-104933-5. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Tor". FishBase. March 2026 version.
  7. ↑ Bailly N (ed.). "Tor Gray, 1834". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  8. ↑ "Tor sattalensis: A new Cyprinid species of the genus Tor (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) described in the Western Himalayan aquatic eco-system of Uttarakhand, India". Journal of Environmental Biology. 47 (3): 585–599. May 2026. doi:10.22438/jeb/47/3/MRN-5697.
  9. ↑ "ICAR-CICFR Discovers a New Mahseer species Tor sattalensis from Uttarakhand" (PDF). cicfr.res.in. Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries (ICAR-CICFR). Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Pinder, Adrian C.; Britton, J. Robert; Harrison, Andrew J.; Nautiyal, Prakash; Bower, Shannon D.; Cooke, Steven J.; Lockett, Steve; Everard, Mark; Katwate, Unmesh; Ranjeet, K.; Walton, Sam; Danylchuk, Andy J.; Dahanukar, Neelesh; Raghavan, Rajeev (2 May 2019). "Mahseer (Tor spp.) fishes of the world: status, challenges and opportunities for conservation". Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. 29 (2): 417–452. Bibcode:2019RFBF...29..417P. doi:10.1007/s11160-019-09566-y.
  11. ↑ Wu, Ling; Qin, Tao; Hoang, Huy Duc; Oo, Thaung Naing; Wang, Xiao-Ai; Chen, Xiao-Yong (4 September 2024). "Molecular Systematics and Divergence of Tor and Neolissochilus Fishes (Cypriniforms: Cyprinidae) from Southeast Asia and South China". Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 5662867. doi:10.1155/2024/5662867.