Taxonomy & naming
Puntius kamalika was described in 2008 by A. Silva, K. Maduwage and R. Pethiyagoda, contributing to a wave of new species descriptions that followed detailed revisionary work on Sri Lanka's freshwater fish fauna in the early twenty-first century. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) records the valid combination as Puntius kamalika (Silva, Maduwage & Pethiyagoda, 2008), retaining it in the genus Puntius — one of the South Asian barb genera that remained after Pethiyagoda and colleagues undertook the 2012 revision breaking up the old, broadly defined Puntius complex. Not all Sri Lankan and Indian species were moved; P. kamalika is among those that stayed within Puntius sensu stricto.
The species epithet kamalika is a Sinhala proper name. Sri Lankan vernacular names recorded for the fish include ipilli kadeya and mada ipilla, reflecting the local nomenclature used by fishers and collectors on the island. The English trade name Kami barb (also written Kami's barb) is used in specialist aquarium circles.
Morphology
Puntius kamalika is a small, moderately deep-bodied barb reaching up to approximately 3 in in standard length. Like others in the genus it has the typical cyprinid body plan: a fusiform to slightly laterally compressed form, a single dorsal fin, no adipose fin, and small, terminal to slightly inferior mouth suited for picking food from the substrate and water column.
Detailed colour description from the original description and hobbyist accounts places it among the visually distinctive smaller Sri Lankan barbs, though precise pattern details are not fully captured in the available trade sources. Sexual dimorphism is present in the species, with gravid females becoming noticeably rounder in the abdomen — a pattern consistent across the genus.
Habitat
Puntius kamalika is restricted to the wet-zone lowlands of southwestern Sri Lanka, recorded from river basins between the Kelani River in the north and the Gin River in the south. It occupies a variety of freshwater habitats within this range, including rivers, streams, and marshy or marshy-margined areas — the benthopelagic lifestyle noted in FishBase suggesting it uses both open water and near-bottom zones.
The wet zone of Sri Lanka receives high annual rainfall and supports dense riparian vegetation, and the lowland rivers and associated marshlands of this region are biologically rich but increasingly fragmented by agriculture, urban expansion, and drainage works. The species favours water of broadly neutral pH around 7, moderate hardness in the region of 10 dGH, and temperatures suited to a tropical lowland environment, with approximately 72 °F cited as optimal by aquarium sources.
Feeding
Puntius kamalika is an omnivore, combining plant matter and small invertebrates in its diet — the generalist feeding strategy typical of the smaller South Asian Puntius species. In its native habitats it likely grazes on algae, detritus, and aquatic plant material while also taking insect larvae, small crustaceans, and other invertebrates encountered in the water column and on the substrate.
In the aquarium it accepts a broad diet of quality flake and small granule foods, supplemented with live and frozen invertebrates such as bloodworm, daphnia, and brine shrimp, alongside some vegetable-based foods. The omnivorous habit means it is straightforward to feed, though variety helps maintain condition and colour.
Mating
Like all barbs, Puntius kamalika is an egg-scattering, non-guarding spawner with no parental care and no nest-building behaviour. Spawning is seasonal in the wild, linked to hydrological cues such as water level and temperature shifts associated with Sri Lanka's monsoon cycles. In courtship a male pursues a gravid female through vegetation or over the substrate, and the pair briefly press together as eggs and milt are released simultaneously.
The adhesive eggs scatter among plant stems, roots, fine substrate, or aquatic vegetation, where they are left entirely unattended. Adults show no post-spawning interest in the eggs and will consume them given the opportunity. There is no pair bond, no territorial guarding, and no further involvement by either parent.
Breeding
Aquarium breeding of Puntius kamalika follows the standard approach used for small South Asian barbs. A separate, shallow spawning vessel with soft, near-neutral water, fine-leaved plants or a spawning mop, and a mesh or marbled substrate layer allows scattered eggs to fall out of reach of the adults. Well-conditioned fish are introduced together and removed promptly after spawning to protect the eggs.
Eggs are adhesive and hatch within one to two days at tropical temperatures, with larvae becoming free-swimming after a further few days. Initial foods are infusoria or commercial fry feeds of equivalent particle size, transitioning to newly hatched brine shrimp as the fry grow. The species has been bred in specialist aquaria focused on Sri Lankan endemics, and captive propagation represents one avenue for maintaining the hobby population without further pressure on wild stocks.
In the aquarium
Puntius kamalika is a niche species in the aquarium hobby, sought by enthusiasts of Sri Lankan freshwater fish rather than a mainstream community fish. It is a schooling species most at ease in a group of six or more, where natural social behaviour is expressed and stress is minimised. A well-planted aquarium with soft substrate, gentle to moderate filtration, and clean, well-oxygenated water suited to its lowland river origins makes an appropriate environment.
Temperature around 72–79 °F and a broadly neutral pH of approximately 7 with moderate hardness (around 10 dGH) reflect the wet-zone lowland river conditions of its home range. Tankmates should be similarly sized, peaceful fishes; the species is active and social but not aggressive. Given its Endangered status, sourcing captive-bred specimens is strongly preferred over wild-caught fish.
Conservation
Puntius kamalika is assessed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, with the assessment dating to 2019 (errata version 2020). The species is endemic to Sri Lanka with a restricted distribution confined to the wet-zone lowlands between the Kelani and Gin river basins — a relatively small natural range that makes any localised habitat deterioration disproportionately damaging.
The primary threats are habitat loss and degradation: conversion of lowland wetlands for agriculture and urban development, drainage of marshy habitats, water extraction, and pollution from agricultural runoff and domestic waste. Sri Lanka's wet-zone lowlands are among the most densely populated and intensively farmed parts of the island, and the freshwater ecosystems within them are under sustained pressure. The species is also included in the Sri Lanka National Red List 2020 assessment of the island's freshwater fish, which confirms its threatened status and highlights the vulnerability of the island's endemic fish fauna as a whole. Conservation of the remaining lowland wetland corridors within its range is essential to the species' persistence.