[3] It is a popular gamefish, once believed to be the largest species of mahseer, and can reach up to 2.75 m (9.0 ft) in length and 54 kg (119 lb) in weight, though most caught today are far smaller.

[7] Nobel Prize winner for Literature - Rudyard Kipling, wrote: "There he met the mahseer of the Poonch, beside whom the tarpon is a herring, and he who catches him can say he is a fisherman."

Its habitat includes high-energy river systems with rocky substrates, and the species has shown adaptability to lacustrine environments formed by dam impoundments.

Golden mahseer from Lonavala hatchery in Maharashtra, India were supplied to the government of Papua New Guinea[12][13] where the fish escaped into the local Sepik river system after release into the Yonki reservoir.

[14] primary threat to Tor putitora is habitat loss and degradation, driven predominantly by the extensive development of hydropower projects in the Himalayan range.

[1] Overfishing exacerbates the challenges faced by Tor putitora, with unsustainable practices such as dynamiting, poisoning, and the use of fine-meshed nets contributing to a decline in populations.