A freshwater fish species unique to the country has finally received both a common name and a scientific name, almost 100 years after it was first officially noted by German ichthyologist Georg Duncker, who spotted the fish in the Gin Ganga in 1912.
The fish, Puntius kamalika, also known as Kami’s Barb, has been named after the late Desamanya Kamalika Abeyeratne (June 22, 1934-December 11, 2004), the well-known paediatrician and humanitarian, whose name became synonymous with AIDS prevention in Sri Lanka. Dr. Abeyeratne, who contracted HIV from tainted blood in a transfusion received after suffering injuries in a car accident, dedicated the rest of her life to campaigning for better care for AIDS and HIV-positive patients.
The fish is described and named in a paper in the July 16, 2008 issue of “Zootaxa”, an international scientific journal dedicated to biodiversity. The paper is co-authored by Anjana Silva and Kalana Maduwage, doctors attached to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital and the Gampola Base Hospital, in association with Rohan Pethiyagoda of the Wildlife Heritage Trust.
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| Dr. Kamalika
Abeyeratne |
According to the writers, the freshwater fish is found throughout the wet zone lowlands of Sri Lanka, from the Kelani Ganga in the west to the Gin Ganga in the south.
Although the species is relatively common, it has eluded scientific description over the years because of confusion with an Indian fish species.
Freshly conducted anatomical studies, especially of the bone structure, have revealed the species to be unique to Sri Lanka.
The authors say they named the fish after Dr. Abeyeratne, in honour of her work on behalf of Sri Lanka’s poor, especially children from deprived backgrounds.
They also note that Dr. Abeyeratne’s husband, Michael, himself a renowned paediatric surgeon, is a dedicated aquarist, having spent decades studying and breeding freshwater fish as a hobby.
The writers have recommended that the fish be known by the common name Kami’s Barb, “Kami”, diminutive of Kamalika, being the name by which the late Dr. Abeyeratne was known among family, friends and colleagues. | 
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