taxonID	type	description	language	source
03A887FBB81BFFFEFF44A038C34EFC60.taxon	description	(Figs. 1 – 3)	en	Maiti, Subhadeep, Mandal, Sudipta, Das, Mitali, Pahari, Priti Ranjan, Bhattacharya, Tanmay (2026): Butis bargabhimae sp. nov., a new species of butid fish (Teleostei: Gobiiformes: Butidae) from the Rupnarayan River, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Zootaxa 5763 (4): 588-596, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9
03A887FBB81BFFFEFF44A038C34EFC60.taxon	materials_examined	Type material. HOLOTYPE (Fig. 1 A). 1 Female (Reg. No. ZSI FF 10992), SL 85 mm, 24 August 2023, coll. Sudipta Mandal, Rupnarayan river. PARATYPE. 1 Female (Reg. No. ZSI FF 10995), SL 91 mm, 24 August 2023, coll. Sudipta Mandal, 3 Female (Reg. No. ZSI FF 10996), SL 111 mm, SL 101.5 mm, SL 125 mm, 3 April 2024, coll. Sudipta Mandal; 1 Male (Reg. No. ZSI FF 10993), SL 128 mm, 27 March 2024, coll. Priti Ranjan Pahari; 1 Male (Reg. No. ZSI FF 10994), SL 86 mm, 10 April 2024, coll. Priti Ranjan Pahari, Rupnarayan river.	en	Maiti, Subhadeep, Mandal, Sudipta, Das, Mitali, Pahari, Priti Ranjan, Bhattacharya, Tanmay (2026): Butis bargabhimae sp. nov., a new species of butid fish (Teleostei: Gobiiformes: Butidae) from the Rupnarayan River, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Zootaxa 5763 (4): 588-596, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9
03A887FBB81BFFFEFF44A038C34EFC60.taxon	description	Description. Selected morphometrics are included in Table 1. In text the holotype counts are given first, followed by the paratype counts in brackets. Body elongated, cylindrical anteriorly, compressed and narrow posteriorly. Head broad, depressed; snout short, larger than the eye diameter; interorbital region flat, interorbital width 10.36 – 11.60 % of SL, bony ridges on head with 1 (0 – 3) soft spines and snout with 16 (14 – 16) small soft spines (Fig. 2 A, I). Mouth large, terminal, posterior tip of maxilla reaching below half of the orbit; lower jaw distinctly anterior-most, chin protruding, upper and lower jaws with small thick inwardly curved teeth in 5 – 6 irregular rows anteriorly, outermost row of teeth on both jaws slightly larger anteriorly than adjacent inner rows, posteriorly innermost row teeth on lower jaw larger than those of adjacent outer rows. Anterior nostril tubular; posterior nostril without tubule, located midway between orbit and anterior nostril. Gil opens a large slit, extending to the posterior tip of the urohyal. Gill racker (Fig. 2 B) on first gill arch 14 – 16 (not counted in holotype), anteriorly blunt and posteriorly pointed, except 1 st two on the dorsal limb. Number of vertebrae 24 (not assessed in holotype to prevent damage). D 1 with 6 spines and D 2 with 1 spine and 8 rays; anal fin with 1 spine and 8 rays; pectoral fin with 21 (19 – 21) rays; pelvic fin with 1 spine and 5 rays; caudal fin with 14 (14 – 16) unbranched unsegmented soft rays, 6 unbranched segmented rays, 11 (10 – 11) branched segmented rays. D 1 low, triangular with 3 rd and 4 th spine long (Fig. 1 A, I); D 1 and D 2 separated by 2 (1 – 2) scales, connecting membrane absent; D 2 trapezoid, all soft rays branched, longer than spine. Anal fin origin below 1 st ray of D 2; Caudal fin rounded; Pectoral fin rounded, not filamentous, tip reaching vertically to the base of the spine of D 2; Pelvic fin rhombic, fourth ray longest, left and right pelvic fin separated from each other. Full body and head scaled except lower and upper jaw and maxilla; ctenoid scales on flanks (lateral surface of the body), opercle, cheek, head, interorbital region of the eye 3 / 7 / 3 (IOS 2 – 3 / 7 – 8 / 2 – 3) (Fig. 2 A, II), pectoral fin base, caudal peduncle; scales extending onto snout usually nearly upto the tip; cycloid scales restricted to belly (Fig. 2 D). LRS 31 (31 – 32); TRDB 10; TRF 14; TRB 9 (8 – 9); PDS 30 (28 – 30); CPS 10 (10 – 12); cheek scales 8 (8 – 10). Auxiliary scales present (Fig. 2 C, I), 3 – 4 per scale on the predorsal area, 5 – 6 per scale on flanks, 2 – 4 per scale on the pre-opercle region. Oculoscapular canal with 12 pores (A’, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K & L’); preopercular canal with 5 pores (M’, N, O, P & Q’); pore D not paired, located posterior to the interorbital space (Fig. 3). Colouration. Male and female similar in colouration which may vary with the substratum. Body brownish with 4 oblique dark bands from opercle to hypural base (Fig. 1 A, II); belly is yellowish brown; head light brown with mottled dark brown bars backwardly radiating from the brown eyes; lips with alternate light and dark bands; base of caudal fin black; base of pectoral fin yellowish to light brown with a dark median spot (Fig. 1 B III); light and dark alternate bands on pectoral fin (Fig. 1 A, IV).	en	Maiti, Subhadeep, Mandal, Sudipta, Das, Mitali, Pahari, Priti Ranjan, Bhattacharya, Tanmay (2026): Butis bargabhimae sp. nov., a new species of butid fish (Teleostei: Gobiiformes: Butidae) from the Rupnarayan River, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Zootaxa 5763 (4): 588-596, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9
03A887FBB81BFFFEFF44A038C34EFC60.taxon	etymology	Etymology. This new species is named after the Hindu deity Bargabhima. The species name is a noun in the genitive singular. Comparison. Morphologically, B. bargabhimae sp. nov. is similar to B. delagoensis and B. koilomatodon in the presence of a short snout (<10 % of SL), a character which distinguishes this group of species from all other species of Butis which have snout length> 10 % of SL. The new species can be easily distinguished from B. delagoensis and B. koilomatodon by the presence of bands on pectoral fins versus absent, and the presence of interorbital and auxiliary scales versus absent. Moreover, B. bargabhimae sp. nov. can be separated from B. koilomatodon in having fewer spines (2 – 3 versus 20 – 30) on head, and more spines (14 – 15 versus 8 – 9) on snout ridges (Table 2).	en	Maiti, Subhadeep, Mandal, Sudipta, Das, Mitali, Pahari, Priti Ranjan, Bhattacharya, Tanmay (2026): Butis bargabhimae sp. nov., a new species of butid fish (Teleostei: Gobiiformes: Butidae) from the Rupnarayan River, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Zootaxa 5763 (4): 588-596, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.9
