LAUSR

Mustura taretensis, a new nemacheilid loach, is described from the Taret River, a tributary of the Yu River, Chindwin River drainage, Manipur, India. The new species is distinguished from all its congeners by a unique combination of the following characters: body with 1213 irregular dark-brown blotches or bars on flank, alternating with 1116 irregular dark-brown saddles on the back; dorsum of head with a distinctly visible rhomboid dark-brown mark encircling a pale oval area on the nape; dorsal fin with 9 or 10 branched rays; lateral line complete; a well-developed free posterior chamber of air bladder, the halves of air bladder capsules connected by a manubrium; poorly developed processus dentiformis; suborbital flap present in males; and body depth 12.816.0 % SL. The generic status of Mustura chindwinensis, M. dikrongensis, M. tigrina and M. tuivaiensis are also discussed in the paper.