Rohita Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1842
Rohitichthys Bleeker, 1860
Labeo is a genus of
carps in the family
Cyprinidae. They are found in freshwater habitats in the
tropics and
subtropics of Africa and Asia.
It contains the typical labeos in the
subfamilyLabeoninae, which may not be a valid group, however, and is often included in the Cyprininae as
tribeLabeonini. If the Labeoninae are accepted as distinct, Labeonini is the name of the tribe in this subfamily to which the labeos belong. If the Labeonini are considered a tribe of the Cyprininae, the labeos are placed in
subtribe Labeoina.
The labeos appear fairly similar to the "
freshwater sharks" of the genus Epalzeorhynchos, which is also part of the Labeoninae (or Labeonini), but is not very closely related. Labeos are larger, and have a more
spindle-shaped body, as they are mostly free-swimming rather than
benthic like Epalzeorhynchos. Their mouths look very different, too; they have a pronounced rostral cap, which covers the upper lip except when feeding. The lips are expanded into thick,
sausage-shaped pads which have
keratinized edges. Thus, their mouth parts are moderately
apomorphic; not as little-developed as in
barbs or in Epalzeorhynchos, but neither as extensive as in, for example, Garra or Ptychidio.[2] The genus name Labeo is
Latin for "one who has large lips".[3]
Labeos have the two
barbels on the
rostrum which are common among the Cyprinidae, and also another pair of barbels at the rear edges of the
lower maxilla, which has been lost in some of their relatives. They have a well-developed vomeropalatine organ. In the
Weberian apparatus, the posterior supraneural bone is elongated and contacts the
skull at the forward end.[2]
Species
There are the currently recognized species in this genus:[4]