Taxonomy & naming
Shaji, Arun & Easa described the species in 1996 from Orukomban, a tributary of the Chalakudy River in Kerala, at about 1,585 ft elevation. 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. The name is a patronym for a person named Surendranathan.
Morphology
A typical Garra: elongate, with a ventral mouth and an adhesive mental disc on the lower lip. FishBase gives a maximum of 6 in SL; colour has not been described in the sources the atlas uses.
Habitat
It is known from the Chalakudy River system in the southern Western Ghats of Kerala, in hill streams at moderate elevation. FishBase lists the type stream at 1,585 ft and also the Periyar and Pamba river drainages. 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. The diet of this species has not been described separately.
Mating
Mating has not been described for this species. 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. Western Ghats hill streams are cool to moderate and well oxygenated. Care notes come from the genus.
Conservation
FishBase lists the species as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, a category for species facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. The assessment year is not given in the FishBase entry, and the species is known from a few Western Ghats streams.