Taxonomy & naming
Devario perisseia was described by Endruweit in 2025 and is placed by the Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS — the authority for valid names) in the genus Devario, family Danionidae. The genus Devario was erected to receive the larger-bodied, more elongate members of the old catch-all genus Danio, and the boundary between Devario and Danio has been refined repeatedly since Kottelat and Witte's 1999 revision. Devario species are collectively called giant danios in the hobby and are found across South and Southeast Asia.
No common name has been recorded for D. perisseia in the published or hobbyist literature at the time of writing. The species is so recently described that it has not yet been fully indexed in FishBase or other major aggregators, and no aquarium trade records are known. Future revisions as more specimens are examined may refine the species' limits and affinities within Devario.
Morphology
Devario perisseia is defined in part by meristic values — counts of vertebrae, scales along the lateral line, and fin rays — that are higher than those previously attributed to the species or its closest relatives, a feature the name itself records. Beyond this diagnostic character, detailed morphological data from the original description paper are not yet widely available in secondary sources.
As a member of Devario, it is expected to share the general body plan of that genus: a moderately elongate, laterally compressed cyprinid body; a terminal to slightly oblique mouth; and one or two pairs of rostral and maxillary barbels. Coloration, patterning, and precise size data specific to D. perisseia are not documented in sources available at the time of writing. Data sparse.
Habitat
The type locality and native range of Devario perisseia are not yet documented in publicly indexed secondary sources. Members of the genus Devario are broadly distributed across South and Southeast Asia — from northern India through Myanmar, Indochina and southern China — and most species occupy clear, fast-flowing, well-oxygenated hill streams and rivers with sandy or rocky substrates, near-neutral to slightly acidic, soft to moderately hard water and relatively stable temperatures in the cool-to-warm tropical range.
Until the original description is widely indexed, the distribution, water-body type and precise environmental parameters of D. perisseia cannot be confirmed. Data sparse; this section will be updated when type-locality data become available.
Feeding
No feeding data specific to Devario perisseia have been published in accessible sources. Devario species are in general opportunistic omnivores and micropredators, taking small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, insect larvae, zooplankton and vegetable matter. Their active, schooling, surface-to-midwater lifestyle suits continuous searching for small prey items.
In the absence of species-specific data, the standard Devario feeding profile is assumed to apply: an omnivore that in the aquarium accepts most prepared foods and benefits from regular offerings of live or frozen invertebrates. Data sparse.
Mating
No reproductive observations have been published for Devario perisseia specifically. Devario and its close relatives are egg-scattering, non-guarding spawners. Courtship involves active pursuit of a gravid female by one or more males through vegetation or over the substrate, with eggs and milt released briefly in close contact. There is no pair bond, no nest construction and no post-spawning attendance of eggs or fry.
Spawning in wild Devario is often tied to seasonal cues — rising temperature, increased photoperiod or the onset of rains — that trigger movement into shallower, vegetated spawning sites. These broad reproductive patterns apply to D. perisseia by inference from its genus membership; species-specific data are absent.
Breeding
Devario perisseia has not been bred in captivity under documented conditions, and no spawning or larval-rearing accounts are available in the literature or hobby press at the time of writing. By analogy with well-studied Devario species such as D. devario and D. aequipinnatus, breeding in the aquarium would likely involve a well-conditioned group, a separate spawning tank with fine-leaved plants or a substrate mesh to protect eggs from predation by the adults, and a slight rise in temperature or a water change to trigger spawning.
Fertilised eggs in Devario typically hatch within two to three days at tropical temperatures, with free-swimming fry appearing a few days later and accepting infusoria and then newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii. These details are inferred from the genus; no species-specific captive breeding record exists for D. perisseia. Data sparse.
In the aquarium
Devario perisseia is not yet established in the aquarium hobby. No import records, trade availability or keeper accounts have been located. As a 2025 species description, it may not have been collected for the ornamental trade, and even if specimens have entered hobbyist collections, no husbandry notes have reached the public literature.
If D. perisseia proves similar to other Devario species, it would be expected to thrive in a spacious, well-oxygenated aquarium with a moderate current, neutral to slightly acidic soft-to-moderately-hard water, and tankmates tolerant of an active, fast-swimming schooling fish. A group of at least six individuals is advisable for any schooling Devario. These are reasonable inferences from the genus; until the species is more widely available and documented, this section is necessarily speculative.
Conservation
Devario perisseia has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List as of 2026. This is not unusual for a species described as recently as 2025: formal assessments typically follow publication by several years, dependent on access to sufficient occurrence and population data. The conservation status is therefore Not Evaluated.
The appropriate conservation concern for any newly described Devario depends heavily on its native range and the pressures acting on it — factors not yet publicly documented for this species. Many narrow-range Devario from hilly Southeast Asian drainages face habitat loss through deforestation, agricultural runoff and water extraction. Until the type locality and distribution are confirmed, the conservation status and the specific threats to D. perisseia cannot be evaluated.