{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}} {{Speciesbox |name = Orange-finned mahseer |image = TorRemadeviiAdult.png |status = CR |status_system = IUCN3.1 |taxon = Tor remadeviae |authority = Kurup & Radhakrishnan, 2007 |status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Pinder, A. |author2=Katwate, U. |author3=Dahanukar, N. |author4=Harrison, A. |date=2018 |title=''Tor remadevii'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T56096394A56717605 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T56096394A56717605.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> |synonyms = ''Tor remadevii'' Kurup & Radhakrishnan, 2011 |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite WoRMS|title=Tor remadeviae Madhusoodana Kurup & Radhakrishnan, 2011|id=1384615|access-date=2026-03-18|db=FishBase}}</ref> }}
'''''Tor remadeviae''''', the '''orange-finned mahseer''', also known as the '''hump-backed mahseer''', is a Critically Endangered species of freshwater fish endemic to the Western Ghats of India.<ref>{{Cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/56096394/56717605 |title=''Tor remadevii'' |access-date=2019-01-15}}</ref> It is restricted to the Kaveri river basin.
It can be distinguished from other mahseer by the prominent hump originating above the pre-opercle, a distinctive kink in the pre-opercule, a terminal mouth position, and its bright orange caudal fin. It is considered a high-quality game fish, and has been proclaimed by anglers as "the largest and hardest fighting freshwater fish in the world".<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.3354/esr00673 | url=https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v28/esr00673 | title=The legendary hump-backed mahseer Tor sp. of India's River Cauvery: an endemic fish swimming towards extinction? | journal=Endangered Species Research | author1=Pinder AC | author2=Raghavan R | author3=Britton JR | year=2015 | volume=28 | pages=11–17 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Conservation Issues == Among the reasons for the species' extreme threat status is the introduction of non-native mahseers ''Tor khudree'' <ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/34337/1/Pinder%20et%20al_JoTT_2020.pdf | title=Length-weight relationships of two conservation-concern mahseers (Teleostei: Cyprinidae: Tor) of the river Cauvery, Karnataka, India |author1=Adrian C. Pinder | author2=Rajeev Raghavan | author3=Shannon D. Bower |author4=J. Robert Britton | date=26 July 2020 | journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa | volume=12 | number=10 | pages=16257–16261 | doi=10.11609/jott.6201.12.10.16257-16261}}</ref> and Himalayan golden mahseer (''Tor putitora'') <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mahseertrust.org/post/tales-from-velimeen-land | title=Tales from Velimeen Land | date=20 August 2021 }}</ref> to the wider Kaveri river basin. Also endangering this species is the heavy construction of dams along the Kaveri and tributaries, as well as the use of dynamite fishing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://researchmatters.in/news/can-its-scientific-name-save-india%E2%80%99s-famed-hump-backed-mahseer|title=Can its scientific name save India's famed hump-backed mahseer?|date=2018-06-22|work=Research Matters|access-date=2018-06-30|language=en}}</ref> These and other factors including loss of riparian cover, industrial and urban pollutions, irrigation and abstraction, plus climatic changes in monsoon weather patterns led to a heavy crash in hump-backed mahseer populations around 2004.<br /> Despite this endangered status, the general lack of a formal scientific name had previously hampered efforts to protect the species. However, a 2018 study found that the orange-finned mahseer was in fact conspecific with ''Tor remadeviae'', a little-known species identified in 2007 based on 19 individuals <ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/289973 | title=Tor Remadevii, A New Species of Tor (Gray) from Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Pambar River, Kerala, Southern India | journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | date=23 January 2024 | volume=107 | issue=3 | pages=227––230 | last1=Kurup | first1=B Madhusoodana | last2=Kurup | first2=B. Madhusoodana | last3=Radhakrishnan | first3=K. V. }}</ref> sampled from the Pambar River in 2004.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pinder|first1=Adrian C.|last2=Manimekalan|first2=Arunachalam|last3=Knight|first3=J. D. Marcus|last4=Krishnankutty|first4=Prasannan|last5=Britton|first5=J. Robert|last6=Philip|first6=Siby|last7=Dahanukar|first7=Neelesh|last8=Raghavan|first8=Rajeev |name-list-style=amp |date=2018-06-20|title=Resolving the taxonomic enigma of the iconic game fish, the hump-backed mahseer from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=6|article-number=e0199328|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0199328|pmid=29924871|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6010267|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1399328P }}</ref> This has allowed the species as known from historic records across the whole river basin to finally gain a scientific name and an updated Red Listing. These will both be of help for future conservation efforts.
== Gallery == <gallery mode="nolines" widths="250"> File:TorRemadeviiPreserved.png|Preserved specimen. File:Orange-finned mahseer AJTJ P1010743.jpg|Young individual caught during 2016 survey of Moyar River. File:TorRemadeviiLarge.png|Very large individual caught in Cauvery by Martin Clark, 1978 </gallery> == References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5713492}}
remadevii Category:Cyprinid fish of Asia Category:Freshwater fish of India Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Category:Taxa named by B. Madhusoodana Kurup Category:Taxa named by Kizhakke Veetil Radhakrishnan Category:Fish described in 2007