Dr. ARUN JANA

Glyptothorax telchitta (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) is a benthic hill-stream Sisoroid catfish that inhabits the mountain waters of the Indian Himalayas and in China, Tibet and the Sunda Islands. It is also a common hill stream catfish of the northern region of West Bengal. The present work reveals that the species is available in the Shilabati river basin, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. Therefore, Glyptothorax telchitta (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) is a widely distributed hill stream species and extends to the lowland area of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India.

Present study reveals the existence of six species of small, indigenous fish under five genera of family Gobiidae and suborder Gobioidei from freshwater aquatic systems of Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram District of West Bengal. Taxonomy of the species as well as their geographical distribution and diversity is the prime interest of the work. A comprehensive zoogeography of the species in different revenue blocks of the districts has been recorded in details. Hence, the work is a documentation of macro faunal diversity at regional level for freshwater ecosystem of the study area which will be helpful for future researchers and policy planners.

The main objective of the present study is the investigation of small indigenous freshwater ornamental fish diversity of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram districts of West Bengal, India and emphasis has been given to their ornamental value and local abundance. Present study is restricted only on the fish species belonging to the genus Puntius. During the study, small freshwater fish species has been surveyed covering all blocks of the three districts under study. Specimens have been collected from different freshwater ecosystems like rivers, ponds, beels etc. and are preserved and identified. It has been observed that the study area represents the existence of nine species of indigenous freshwater small fishes under genus Puntius. Among the recorded nine species, two species, namely Puntius guganio (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) and Puntius gelius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) are being found for the first time from the study site. All the nine species are potential to be rega...

Background: There is no previous published record regarding different fish species found in fish markets of Kharagpur town. The place is internationally renowned due to first Institute of Technology of India. Due to largest railway establishment in Kharagpur town, an influx of population is always here from different states. As such their food preference and cultural practice is different. Present survey is relevant to depicts fish preference of the town dwellers and socioeconomic status of market associated people. Methods: The study have been conducted from November 2018 to January 2020 thoroughly from 13 fish markets of Kharagpur town, West Bengal, India. Fish specimens collected, identified and preserved. Market related data have been collected from different agents, wholesaler etc. through questionnaire interviews. Result: During the study period it has been observed that 28 freshwater inland fish species; 6 freshwater exotic fish species; 19 marine fish species and 4 crustacean species are available in the Kharagpur town. Some marine molluscs like Loligo sp and Sepia sp are also sold here. There are different peoples, those belong from different districts of West Bengal and involved in fish marketing activities. Therefore, a marketing chain is being established which is interdependent to each other with a socioeconomic framework. Some measures have been highlighted towards improvement of infrastructure, hygienic conditions.

Glyptothorax telchitta (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) is a benthic hill-stream Sisoroid catfish that inhabits the mountain waters of the Indian Himalayas and in China, Tibet and the Sunda Islands. It is also a common hill stream catfish of the northern region of West Bengal. The present work reveals that the species is available in the Shilabati river basin, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. Therefore, Glyptothorax telchitta (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) is a widely distributed hill stream species and extends to the lowland area of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India.

Present study has been conducted on indigenous ornamental fish diversity of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. During the 21 months of study period we have identified 44 indigenous ornamental fish species under 17 families of 7 orders from area under study. On the basis of overall survey the order Cypriniformes represented the largest diversity including 15 species under 2 families. Cyprinidae is the most dominant family, contributing 29.45% species among total species. According to IUCN (2020.1) status of the fishes are included 86.37% Least Concern, 4.54% Vulnerable, 4.45% Near Threatened, 2.27% Not Evaluated& 2.27% are Data Deficient. Locally a good number of species have been detected very low in density from the study area is an alarming condition, needed immediate conservation strategies to safeguard these valuable natural resource.

Present study reveals the existence of six species of small, indigenous fish under five genera of family Gobiidae and suborder Gobioidei from freshwater aquatic systems of Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram District of West Bengal. Taxonomy of the species as well as their geographical distribution and diversity is the prime interest of the work. A comprehensive zoogeography of the species in different revenue blocks of the districts has been recorded in details. Hence, the work is a documentation of macro faunal diversity at regional level for
freshwater ecosystem of the study area which will be helpful for future researchers and policy planners.

Osteochilichthys thomassi is a small endemic freshwater fish of Western Ghats region found in Krishna and Kaveri river of south India. Currently the species has been reported by Ali and his co-workers from Tami Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Present work reveals that the species is available in the Subarnarekha basin of West Bengal (Silda under Binpur-II). Therefore, O. thomassi is a widely distributed species, supporting Dahanukar observation and extends its distribution up to southeastern part of India

The main objective of the present study is the investigation of small indigenous freshwater ornamental fish diversity of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram districts of West Bengal, India and emphasis has been given to their ornamental value and local abundance. Present study is restricted only on the fish species belonging to the genus Puntius. During the study, small freshwater fish species has been surveyed covering all blocks of the three districts under study. Specimens have been collected from different freshwater ecosystems like rivers, ponds, beels etc. and are preserved and identified. It has been observed that the study area represents the existence of nine species of indigenous freshwater small fishes under genus Puntius. Among the recorded nine species, two species, namely Puntius guganio (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) and Puntius gelius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) are being found for the first time from the study site. All the nine species are potential to be regarded as ornamental fish. A detail distributional data has been provided for all the species of the genus from the study area. Therefore, present study will highlight the local macro-faunal diversity of the freshwater fish species under genus Puntius as well as ability to become ornamental fish for aquarium keeping. Record of two small fish species from the freshwater ecosystem of the study area is the new addition to the local fish faunal diversity

The present study has been conducted on ichthyofaunal diversity of river Kapaleswari flowing through Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. Results reveal the existence of 56 indigenous fish species under 22 families of 8 orders and the order Perciformes represents the largest diversity with 8 families and 20 species. Cyprinidae is the most dominant family; contributed 26.79% species. Two species namely Stigmatogobius sadanundio & Gobiopsis macrostoma have been first time recorded from Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. Among the recorded fish species of Kapaleswari River, 47.07% were used as food-fish, 1.79% used as ornamental & the remaining 57.14% were used as both food and ornamental. So, maximum fish species have important socioeconomic value for the development of local people proximate to the Kapaleswari River. The values of the Shannon-Weaver index (H) range from '3.58' to '3.79' & the Simpson's index (D) from '0.023' to '0.032' among the sampling sites are indicative to diverse fish population in Kapaleswari River. The result of species evenness has been concluded that individual species are near to disturb condition at Kapaleswari river. According to IUCN ver. 2020.1, status of the fishes in the river depicts, 75% are Least Concern, 3.57% are Vulnerable, 8.93% are Near Threatened, 10.71% are Not Evaluated & 1.71% are Data Deficient. As per local status 71.42% of fishes of this river are under risk and need immediate conservation to protect them from extinction. Hence, the work is a documentation of macro faunal diversity of Kapaleswari river as well as regional level for helpful for future researchers and policy planners and also helpful to formulate the future policy for conservation and management of the fish diversity in the river Kapaleswari.