Scientists Discover Four Unique Fish Species in Kerala

November 15, 2004

Release from:
deepikaglobal.com

Kochi, Nov 15 (UNI) Scientists at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) have reportedly discovered four new species of fish in Kerala that are yet to be found anywhere in the world.

The discovery was revealed during a World Bank-assisted project study on riverine bio-diversity to prepare a database, by the CUSAT scientists of the School of Industrial Fisheries.

The findings, made by the team headed by Dr B Madhoosudana Kurup, were confirmed by scientists of the Zoological Survey of India, Chennai.

Incidentally, the same team had also discovered four other new species as part of the same study, taking the total to eight now.

The new species, Mahaseer (Tor Remadevi), collected from Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary was named after famous Ichthyologist Dr K Remadevi. The fish, which could attain about 40 kg in weight, could be a game fish.

The other new species included Homaloptera Silasi, locally known as Kallepatti and Garra Travancoria, were collected from Periyar Tiger Reserve while the attractive Garra Nilaburensis, known as Kallemutti, was collected from Nilambur forest.

Of the 148 species collected and identified, 79 were potential ornamental species whereas ten could be utilised for the aquaculture sector of the country, Dr Kurup said.

Eight of them were facing extinction in near future if proper conservation measures were not adopted while 21 were threatened in their bio-diversity status. The study also found that 35 species were highly endemic to Kerala in their distribution on the global status.

The study revealed that Periyar was found to be very rich in fish germplasm resources accommodating 80 species. Chalakkudy, which stood second, had 70 species while Bharathapuzha and Kabbini had 68 and 51 species respectively.

It also pointed out that the freshwater fishery wealth was prone to tremendous decline due to habitat destruction, use of fishing methods that were destructive, over-exploitation of ornamental species without considering the stock size.

The scientists have called for effective legislation to ensure the protection of inland fishery wealth and for preserving the unique germplasm in the state.