Taxonomy & naming
Narayan Rao described Garra bicornuta in 1920 from the Tunga River at Shimoga, Karnataka. Garra is a large genus of sucker-mouthed labeonine cyprinids, ranging from West Africa and the Middle East across South and Southeast Asia to China.
Morphology
A typical Garra: elongate, with a ventral mouth and an adhesive mental disc on the lower lip. FishBase gives a maximum of 5.5 in SL; colour has not been described in detail. The name bicornuta means two-horned, which may refer to snout tubercles.
Habitat
FishBase describes it as a fish of mountain streams in the Tunga river system in Karnataka, with a record from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. Water parameters have not been published.
Feeding
Garra species are grazers. The lower lip forms an adhesive mental disc, and the fish rasp algae, diatoms and biofilm from stone with the hardened jaw edge, taking small invertebrates and detritus along with it. This species has not been studied for its own diet.
Mating
Mating in this species has not been described. Related Garra are seasonal egg-scatterers with no parental care, with ripe males carrying snout tubercles.
Breeding
Spawning has not been documented. Related Garra scatter eggs over stone and gravel and give them no care.
In the aquarium
Treat it as a hillstream fish: a long tank, strong flow, high oxygen, rounded stones and wood with algae and biofilm to graze, and a tight lid, since Garra climb and jump. Keep a group rather than a single fish, and give mixed algae wafers, sinking pellets and small live or frozen foods. Care notes come from the genus.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List category is Near Threatened, assessed in 2010. That means the species is close to qualifying for a threatened category. Its known range is limited to a few Western Ghats drainages.