Exotic fish species introduced to India.
An exotic species is any species, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other
biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to
that habitat. During the period 1870-1947 under the British rule, 9 species of
exotic fishes were introduced. They were temperate food carps, Tinca tinca,
Carassius carassius, Cyprinus carpio (European strain), and the tropical
osphronemid, Osphronemus goramy; the salmonid game fishes, the brown
trout and the rainbow trout and larvicidal Gambusia affinis and Lebistes
reticulatus. The post- independence India witnessed introductions of 8 exotic
species. They were the cyprinids, Cyprinus carpio, (chinese strain),
Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmicthys molitrix, Puntius javanicus, and
the cichlid, Tilapia mossambica, all of food species and the salmonids,
Salvelinus fontinalis, Onchorhyncus nerka, and Salmo salar. Unauthorized
introductions were: Aristicthys nobilis, Tilapia nilotica and red tilapia.
Some of the important exotic fish sps introduced in India
Cyprinus carpio (European Carp or Common Carp) : Depending on the texture of
the skin and size of scales, the fish has been divided into 3 main varieties. They
are:Scale carp (C. carpio var. communis) body completely covered with smaller
scales. Mirror carp (Var. specularis) with large size shiny scale over the
body.Leather carp (Var. nudus) body almost without any scales, has a leathery
appearance. In India the German strain of Mirror carp was 1st introduced in 1939
from Ceylon. The species was stocked in the Ooty lake and since then has
established itself very well in Nilgiri waters. As the German stock of the common
carp was not breeding freely in tropical waters in India, a consignment of Chinese
stock of the common carp ( variety :scale carp) was brought from Bangkok to
Cuttack in August 1957. In 1946, the German strain of this fish was introduced in
Bhowali hatchery (Uttara Khand) for stocking the Kumaon lakes. Later, it found a
home in Kashmir lakes where the Dal was invaded and heavily infested with the
species to the exclusion of all other local species, specially the schizothoracids
(Sehgal, 1989). It was stocked in Gobindsagar in Himachal Pradesh where is
forms a lucrative fishery despite of dominating silver carp.Due to bottom habitat it
competes with the indigenous Cirrhinus mrigala, magur (C. batrachus) and the
scampi (M. rosenbergii) both for the space as well as for space and food. In the
absence of adequate food in ponds, it burrows for food damaging the pond dykes
and makes the water turbid thus reducing the natural productivity through
suppressing the phytoplankton production. Of late, it has also been recorded
from almost all the major rivers as a result of overflowing of ponds and reservoirs.
In perennial ponds, the disadvantage lies in its prolific breeding where it upsets
the proportion of the different species and at the same time a large number of
small mouths compete for food, space and oxygen. They are not easily
harvestable in the reservoirs due to their bottom dwelling habit and gill nets are
not that much useful for catching them as they move very slow in water.
Instances of commoncarp causing the decline of Cirrhinus spp. (Valsankar,
1987) and Krishnarajasagar (Sugunan, 1995) reservoirs. Detailed accounts of
mirror carp affecting the survival of native fish species in Gobindsagar reservoir,
upland lakes of Kashmir and Kumaon Himalayas (Schizothorax spp.), and Loktak
lake in the northeast (Osteobrama belangiri) are given by Sugunan (1995).A
study on the catch composition of carp availability along the stretches of Ganga
revealed that the population of Common carp has been increased where as the
availability of Gangetic carps has been declined (Atul k. singh et al., 2010).
Tilapia mossambica: Tilapia, a native of South Africa was brought to India by
CMFRI at 1952. In the same year few fingerlings were brought to Madras. For
making detailed investigations a few fingerlings were brought to CIFRI centre
cuttack,1953. It was stocked in the reservoirs of Tamil Nadu and Kerala where its
performance was initially quite good as large- sized tilapias (1.5-2.5 kg) were
caught, but soon the reservoirs, being small in size, were overpopulated and the
size of the fish started declining and so was its value in the market (Kurup and
Radhakrishnan, 2008).In ponds, it did not do well from the very beginning as
stunted population made their appearance rather soon and the impact was found
to be quite severe on major carps, pearl spot and milk fish.
Hypophthalmicthys molitrix: The Silver carp was introduced to India in the year
1959 and was confined to ponds till 1969 when 239 fingerlings were introduced
into the Kulgarhi reservoir.
Ctenopharyngodon idella: The grass carp was introduced in the year 1959
primarily for controlling submerged vegetation. However, due to its fast growth
rate soon it became the integral part of composite fish culture. The Grass carp
feed on only slected macrophytes such as Hydrilla verticillata, but it do not
consume any of the floating plants, especially Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia
stratiotes and Salvinia molesta- the three most menacing weeds- that are
abundant in ponds and tanks, lakes and small reservoirs all over the country. Its
daily requirement is as much as its body wt, & so it is a problem to provide it large
quantity of preferred weeds. On one hand, by controlling the weeds, it brings in
circulation the nutrients locked up by the weeds and produces valuable fish
protein, on the other hand, it impacts the survival of those fishes and prawns that
hide in the weeds to escape the predators, especially the murrels. The negative
impacts on environment by grass carps are:Alteration of water quality including
an increase in turbidity, reduced dissolved oxygen, and an increase in plant
nutrients. Removal of aquatic vegetation may alter the invertebrate
community, thereby influencing species abundance and composition of
fishes .Reduction in bluegill populations, potentially attributed to increased
turbidity, distribution of bluegill nesting, or silt-covered eggs. Alteration in fish
communities with complete vegetation removal. Depletion of aquatic vegetation
for birds and other aquatic organisms. Competition with native crayfishes for food.
Potential impacts on native amphibian populations by removal of cover when
stocked in ponds.Reduction in native non-targeted species of plants through
selective feeding
Pangasius sutchi: Another exotic catfish that has been introduced, rather recently
in 1994-95 and again illegally is the Thai catfish, from Bangladesh where it was
brought from Thailand and bred in hatcheries.
Salmonids: The salmonid family truly belongs to temperate waters of Northern
Hemisphere. In India the introduction of salmonids were largely confined to
Himalayan states of Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and comprised of brown trout,
(Salmo trutta fario) in 1899 and rainbow trout (S. gairdneri) in 1912. Post
Independence additions are Eastern Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis & Salmo
salar, the land-locked salmon. The Kokane salmon Onchorynchus nerka, was
also added in 1968 in Tamil Nadu.It has found to displace local snow trout
species.
Other exotic fish species
Silver Barb (Puntius gonionotus):
The fish has gained popularity in West Bengal on account of its fast growth rate
but was never considered a weed-eating fish and a competitor of grass
carp.Experiments on its compatibility with the Indian major carps have shown it to
be affecting the growth and production of Rohu.
Black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus):
It is stocked in composite carp culture to controll mollusks and it is found to grow
fast and attain a weight of 4 kg. Due to this the culture of indigenous Labeo
calbasu & Pangasius pangasius is being neglected.
Pangasius sutchi:
Owing to its fast growth about 1 kg in 3 months, the fish is already established as
a profitable species for aquaculture in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.It is
reported that it has also invaded the natural waters. The fish, however, was found
to be infected with at least 6 species of myxozoan parasites in
Malaysia.Whatsoever may be the reason for its limited area of cultivation
particularly coastal belt, the impact of this exotic catfish still requires studies.
Trouts:
Both brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
are now being regularly stocked in different river stretches in Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir as well as Uttaranchal.However, there is no organized study
to assess the impact of this kind of unplanned introductionsof trouts in open water.
Whatsoever may be the impact of such introductions, the recent mass mortality in
rainbow trout in Himachal Pradesh during 2002 possibly on account of severe
problem has indeed drawn attention of the scientists calling for quarantining need
and ecological concern.Sehgal, 1989 has reported that the introduction of Salmo
truttafario has eradicated the local cold water spp.
Conclusion:
Although the introduction of exotic species can be regarded as a boon to
aquaculture production as it has maximum growth potential but we have to
judiciously manage our own native ecosystem and biodiversity so that the
impact of the introduction of exotic fishes negative impact can be minimized.
