Taxonomy & naming
Laubuka trevori was formally described by J. D. Marcus Knight in 2015 in the journal Zootaxa (volume 4000, issue 5), based on specimens collected from the Yemmemadu streams of Coorg District, Karnataka, India (type locality approximately 12°20'11"N, 75°38'03"E). The FishBase identifier is 68842. The description distinguished the new species from its two closest relatives, L. laubuca and L. latens, principally by a higher branched anal-fin ray count (14½–15½), a distinctive scale formula (½6/1/1½ transverse scale rows), and proportionally short pelvic fins measuring only 10.1–16.3% of standard length.
The genus Laubuka was historically treated as part of Chela or subsumed within broader Danio-like groupings, but molecular and morphological work has consolidated it as a valid genus within the family Danionidae — the same family as Danio, Devario, and Microdevario. Laubuka species tend to be laterally compressed, surface-oriented schooling fishes. L. trevori has no established common name in either the scientific literature or the aquarium trade as of its description.
Morphology
Laubuka trevori is a small, laterally compressed cyprinid: the holotype measured 1.5 in standard length and a paratype approximately 1 in SL. Like congeners, it is a slim, surface-oriented fish with an upturned mouth suited to feeding at and near the water surface. The most immediately distinctive feature is a pair of longitudinal body stripes: a golden stripe running above a bluish-green stripe from just behind the opercle to the base of the caudal fin — a pattern that provides camouflage and species recognition simultaneously in the dappled light of a shallow stream.
Key meristic characters that define the species include 14½–15½ branched anal-fin rays and the transverse scale formula of ½6/1/1½. The notably short pelvic fins — proportionally shorter than in L. laubuca and L. latens — are a reliable diagnostic character. Maximum total length is not precisely established for wild adults, but the genus Laubuka reaches roughly 3–4 in in its larger species; L. trevori is likely at the smaller end of this range given its holotype size.
Habitat
The type locality of L. trevori is in the Yemmemadu stream system within Coorg (Kodagu) District of Karnataka — a forested, hilly district in the central Western Ghats drained principally by the Cauvery river system. Subsequent collection records from four locations in the Kabini catchment in Kerala extend the known range into the Kerala portion of the Western Ghats, with the species considered an endemic to the Cauvery–Tunga river systems and their tributaries.
These are hill and foothill streams, typically clear to lightly turbid, flowing through remnant forest or agricultural land, with substrates of rock, gravel, and leaf litter. Congener data from L. laubuca and L. dadiburjori suggest genus-wide preferences for flowing water that is soft to moderately hard (roughly 36–179 ppm), slightly acidic to neutral in pH (approximately 6.0–7.5), and warm-temperate to tropical in temperature (around 68–79 °F). No species-specific water chemistry data for L. trevori have been published.
Feeding
No dedicated dietary study exists for Laubuka trevori. The genus Laubuka, like other small danionids, is presumed to be an omnivorous surface and mid-water feeder, taking small insects falling onto the water surface, aquatic invertebrates, zooplankton, and occasional plant material and detritus. The upturned mouth is characteristic of fishes that exploit the surface film and the drift of terrestrial insects — a productive niche in the forest streams of the Western Ghats.
In aquarium conditions, congeners and morphologically similar danionids accept a broad diet of flake and micropellet foods, with frozen or live items such as daphnia, cyclops, and fruit flies enhancing condition and colouration. Given the insectivorous bent of small danionids from hill streams, a protein-rich varied diet likely suits L. trevori best.
Mating
Laubuka trevori has not been studied in detail in either field or aquarium conditions, but as a member of the danionid subfamily, it is an egg-scattering, non-guarding spawner — consistent with all members of this group studied to date. In wild populations, seasonal rainfall and rising water levels in the hill streams of the Western Ghats likely trigger spawning, as they do for danionids across South and Southeast Asia.
Courtship in danionids typically involves one or more males pursuing a gravid female through vegetation or over substrate, with the pair pressing together briefly to release eggs and milt. There is no pair bond and no parental behaviour following spawning. The eggs, once scattered over fine-leaved plants, moss, or gravel, are abandoned by the adults.
Breeding
Laubuka trevori has not been bred in captivity in any documented account. Extrapolating from closely related Laubuka species and the broader danionid literature, it would be expected to scatter adhesive eggs over fine-leaved plants or moss, with no parental care and a tendency for adults to consume their own eggs if not separated promptly after spawning.
Hobbyists attempting to breed this species would likely follow the standard approach for small danionids: a shallow spawning tank with a mesh or layer of fine plants over the substrate, a well-conditioned group conditioned on live and frozen foods, and removal of adults immediately after spawning. Incubation and larval development times are not recorded for L. trevori specifically but would be expected to align with congeners at similar temperatures — eggs hatching within two to three days and larvae becoming free-swimming a few days later.
In the aquarium
Laubuka trevori is not established in the ornamental fish trade and is unlikely to be encountered by hobbyists outside of specialist collections focused on endemic South Asian cyprinids. Its small size (holotype 1.5 in SL) and striking double-stripe coloration would make it an attractive subject for a biotope or species aquarium dedicated to Western Ghats stream fishes.
Based on genus and habitat data, an appropriate setup would include a well-oxygenated tank with gentle current, soft to moderately hard water (pH 6.0–7.5, temperature 72–79 °F), fine-leaved plants or Java moss, and a sandy or fine-gravel substrate. Like all Laubuka, it is an active schooling species that should be kept in groups of six or more. Its small size makes it incompatible with larger or boisterous tankmates; a biotope pairing with other small Western Ghats endemics would be most appropriate.
Conservation
Laubuka trevori is listed as Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List as of 2026, although a 2023 assessment effort by Neelesh Dahanukar was noted in the literature. The species is a narrow-range endemic of the Western Ghats — one of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots — restricted to the Cauvery–Tunga river systems of Karnataka and Kerala. Only a small number of collection sites are known: the type locality in Coorg and four locations in the Kabini catchment.
The Western Ghats rivers face severe pressure from deforestation, conversion of riparian forest to agriculture (particularly coffee and cardamom plantations), damming, water extraction for irrigation, and increasing sedimentation. Many single-locality or narrow-range fish endemics from this region qualify for threatened categories when formally assessed. Given its restricted range, dependence on clean hill-stream habitat, and the ongoing degradation of Western Ghats river systems, L. trevori warrants conservation attention and formal IUCN evaluation.