Short Communication Fish Fauna of Kodayar River, Kanyakumari District

Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 49 (03), March 2020, pp. 477-484

Short Communication

Fish fauna of Kodayar River, Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu was recorded by Ramanujam and 17 18 19 district, Tamil Nadu, India Anbarasan , Ramanujam et al. , Bharadhirajan et al. , Khan20, Pavinkumar et al.21, Mogalekar et al.22. J. Canciyal1,*, L. Kosygin2, H. S. Mogalekar3 & B. K. Das1 A comprehensive study on the distribution pattern and 1 faunal composition of fishes from upstream to the ICAR - Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata - 700 120, West Bengal, India estuarine section in the Kodayar river system was 2Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata - 700 053, lacking. In view of the paucity of such information, the West Bengal, India present communication was conducted to investigate 3College of Fisheries, Dholi, Muzaffarpur, Bihar – 843 121, India distribution and diversity of fishes from four different *[E-mail: [email protected]] localities of Kodayar River system for conservation, management and sustainable utilization of fishery Received 4 September 2018; revised 13 June 2019 resources.

The fish fauna of Kodayar river has been presented here based on an extensive survey and earlier reports. A systematic Study area enumeration of fish fauna comprised 79 species representing eight The Kodayar River originates from the Agastiar orders, 23 families and 47 genera. The Kodayar river constitutes Malai or Ashambu Hills in southernmost sector of about 5.67 % to the endemic fish diversity of Western Ghats of the Western Ghats in Kanyakumari district of Tamil India. Highest species diversity was observed in the order Nadu, India (Fig. 1). The Kodayar river system Cypriniformes and family Cyprinidae. The river supports 70.88 % of food fishes, 53.16 % of ornamental fishes, 29.12 % of flows southwesterly direction in between 8° 2l’ to 8° 53’ cultivable fishes and 17.73 % of sports fishes. The threat status N Latitude and 77° 12’ to 77° 35’ E Longitude with 331 analysis of fishes revealed 10.13 % of species under threatened sq. km of the total catchment area, 10 km of total length category of IUCN. The Kodayar river system supports diverse fish and finally joins the Arabian Sea near Thengapattanam fauna worth for rural livelihood through capture, culture, aquarium or sports fishery. in Kanyakumari district. The Kodayar river was divided into Upper Kodayar dam (8.521893 Latitude and [Keywords: Conservation status, Fish fauna, Fishery, Kodayar river] 77.359975 Longitude) and Lower Kodayar dam (8.530259 Latitude and 77.311774 Longitude), Pechiparai dam Introduction (8.454562 Latitude and 77.318084 Longitude) and The inland fisheries resources of Tamil Nadu Thengapattanam estuary (8.23874 Latitude and consist of streams, rivers and canals (7,400 km), 77.169254 Longitude) for sampling purpose. major reservoirs (52,000 ha), irrigation tanks (98,000 ha), rural fishery demonstration tanks (158000 ha) 1,2 Material and Methods and estuaries (56,000 ha) . The Cauvery, Vaigai, Fish samples were collected from the Kodayar river Tamiraparani, Periyar, Pennar and Kodayar are some and its tributaries at the upper and lower Kodayar dams, of the important rivers that originate from the east Pechiparai dam and Thengapattanam estuary with the side of the Western Ghats, travel through Tamil Nadu help of local fishermen (Fig. 1). The fishes were and discharge freshwater into the Bay of Bengal 1,3 collected by using cast nets (22 mm mesh size), dragnet through the various estuaries . Rivulets and rivers (10 mm) and gillnet (25 mm to 250 mm) on a weekly originating from the Western Ghats conferred with basis during December 2017 and January 2018. After diverse fish fauna have become the geographic focus collection, fishes were examined, counted, photographed for ichthyologists4-6. 7 and released back into the Kodayar river system. A few Jerdon was the first to describe fishes of Tamil Nadu. specimens (2 to 6) of unidentified species were The fish faunal diversity of rivers in Tamil Nadu was 4 6 preserved in buffered formalin (10 %) and transported to studied by Arunachalam , Johnson & Arunachalam , the laboratory of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) for Raj8, Rajan9, Jayaram et al.10, Devi11, Bai12, Arunachalam 13 14 confirmation of species identification. Fishes were & Sankaranarayanan , Balasundaram et al. , Indra & 23 15 16 identified using Talwar and Kacker , Talwar and Bai and Ramanujam . The estuarine fish fauna of Jhingran24, Jayaram25 and recent taxonomic reviews26-31. 478 INDIAN J. GEO-MAR. SCI., VOL. 49, NO. 03, MARCH 2020

Fig 1 — Sampling sites in Kodayar River stretch, Tamil Nadu

The fish species reported earlier from Kodayar river Results system but not collected during the present survey are The systematic classification of the fish fauna of also included in this report32. The valid nomenclature of Kodayar river system along with their status, common species were adopted as per the Catalogue of Fishes of names, habitat, distribution and occurrence of fishes, and the California Academy of Sciences33. Finally, the fishery information has been illustrated in Table 1. A identified fish specimens were recorded and submitted systematic enumeration of fish fauna from Kodayar river in the National Zoological Collection of ZSI, Kolkata. and its tributaries comprises of 79 species representing eight orders, 23 families and 47 genera (Table 1). In total The details on the endemic status of fishes were 64 species of fishes belonging to 8 orders, 19 families collected34,35. The fishes were categorized into capture and 40 genera recorded from Kodayar river at Pechiparai fishery (fishes for human consumption), culture fishery dam; 10 species of fishes belonging to 2 orders, (fishes with culture importance), aquarium fishery 4 families and 8 genera from upstream of Kodayar river (ornamentally appreciated fishes for aquarium purpose) at Upper and Lower Kodayar dams, 10 species and sports fishery. The list of cultivable fishes belonging to 2 orders, 5 families and 6 genera from was prepared based on growth rate and maximum downstream of Kodayar river at Thengapattanam size of the species, acceptance by local people for estuary. Among the orders, the highest species diversity consumption and discussion with fishermen’s from was observed in the Cypriniformes (37 species, 20 Kanyakumari district. The list of aquarium fishes was genera and 3 families) followed by Perciformes prepared based on colouration pattern, shape and (16 species, 10 genera and 7 families) and Siluriformes maximum size. Information on the conservation status (12 species, 6 genera and 5 families) (Fig. 2). The most was retrieved from the International Union for diverse family was the Cyprinidae with 19 species and Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) 34 genera followed by Cichlidae, Bagridae and Siluridae Red List Categories and Criteria36. with 4 species and 2 genera each (Fig. 2). CANCIYAL et al.: FISHES OF KODAYAR RIVER, KANYAKUMARI, INDIA 479

Table 1 — Systematic check-list of fishes of Kodayar river system with note on endemic or exotic status, common name, habitat, occurrence of fishes, fishery & conservation status Taxa Common name Habitat Distribution Fishery IUCN ZSI Reg no./ of fishes Information Status reference Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Craniata Superclass: Gnathostomata Class: Actinopterygii Division: Teleostei Order: Anguilliformes Family: Anguillidae Anguilla bengalensis (Gray, 1831) Indian mottled eel F, B, M KR2 Capture, Sport NT 32 Anguilla bicolor McClelland, 1844 Indonesian F, B, M KR2 Capture, Sport NT 32 shortfin eel Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae Catla catla (Hamilton, 1822) Catla F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 Culture, Sport Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Bloch, 1795) Mrigal carp F, B KR2 Capture, VU 32 ENWGI Culture, Sport Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton, 1822) Mrigal F KR2 Capture, LC 32 Culture, Sport Ctenopharyngodon idella Grass carp F KR2 Capture, NE 32 (Valenciennes, 1844) EXI Culture, Sport Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 EXI Common carp F, B KR2 Capture, VU 32 Culture, Sport Dawkinsia filamentosa Blackspot barb F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Valenciennes, 1844) ENWGI Aquarium Dawkinsia rohani - F KR1 Aquarium VU FF7508 (Rema Devi, Indra & Knight 2010) Dawkinsia tambraparniei Tambraparniei F KR2 Aquarium EN 32 (Silas, 1954) ENWGI barb Esomus thermoicos - F KR2 Aquarium LC 32 (Valenciennes, 1842) Garra gotyla (Gray, 1830) Sucker head F KR2 Capture LC 32 Garra mullya (Sykes, 1839) Sucker fish F KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Garra sp. F KR1 Aquarium NA Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Silver carp F KR2 Capture, NT 32 (Valenciennes, 1844) EXI Culture Hypselobarbus kurali Menon & Rema - F KR2 Capture LC 32 Devi, 1995 ENWGI Hypselobarbus micropogon Korhi barb F KR2 Capture, Sport EN 32 (Valenciennes, 1842) ENWGI Labeo calbasu Orangefin labeo F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Culture Labeo fimbriatus Fringed-lipped F KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Bloch, 1795) peninsular carp Culture Labeo rohita Roho labeo, Rohu F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Culture, Sport Laubuka dadiburjori Menon, 1952 Dadio F KR2 Aquarium LC 32 ENWGI Laubuka laubuca (Hamilton, 1822) Indian glass barb F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Pethia conchonius (Hamilton, 1822) Rosy barb F KR1, KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Pethia punctata (Day, 1865) ENWGI - F KR1 Aquarium LC FF7501 Pethia striata Atkore, Knight, Rema - F KR1 Aquarium NE FF7502, Devi & Krishnaswamy 2015 FF7499 Taxa Common name Habitat Distribution Fishery IUCN ZSI Reg no./ of fishes Information Status reference (Contd.) 480 INDIAN J. GEO-MAR. SCI., VOL. 49, NO. 03, MARCH 2020

Table 1 — Systematic check-list of fishes of Kodayar river system with note on endemic or exotic status, common name, habitat, occurrence of fishes, fishery & conservation status Taxa Common name Habitat Distribution Fishery IUCN ZSI Reg no./ of fishes Information Status reference Puntius amphibius Scarlet-banded F, B KR2 Capture DD 32 (Valenciennes, 1842) ENWGI barb Puntius bimaculatus (Bleeker, 1863) Redside barb F KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Puntius chola (Hamilton, 1822) Swamp barb F KR2 Capture, LC 32 Aquarium Devario fraseri (Hora 1935) Fraser danio F KR1 Aquarium VU FF7503, FF7498 Rasbora daniconius (Hamilton, 1822) Slender rasbora F, B KR1, KR2 Capture, LC FF7504, Aquarium FF7497 Rasbora rasbora (Hamilton, 1822) Gangetic rasbora F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Salmostoma balookee (Sykes, 1839) Bloch razorbelly F KR2 Capture LC 32 minnow Salmostoma boopis (Day, 1874) ENWGI Boopis razorbelly F KR2 Capture LC 32 minnow Salmostoma untrahi (Day, 1869) Mahanadi F KR2 Capture LC 32 razorbelly minnow Systomus sarana (Hamilton, 1822) Olive barb F, B KR2 Capture LC 32 Family: Cobitidae Lepidocephalichthys thermalis Common spiny F KR2 Aquarium LC 32 (Valenciennes, 1846) loach Family: Nemacheilidae Nemacheilus sp. - F KR1 Aquarium NA Order: Siluriformes Family: Siluridae Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) Butter catfish F, B KR2 Capture, NT 32 Culture, Aquarium Ompok malabaricus Goan catfish F KR1, KR2 Capture, LC FF7500 (Valenciennes, 1840) ENWGI Culture, Aquarium Ompok pabda Pabdah catfish F KR2 Capture, NT 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Culture, Aquarium Wallago attu Wallago F, B KR2 Capture, Sport NT 32 (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Family: Clariidae Clarias magur Maguro F KR2 Capture, EN 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Culture, Sport Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) EXI North African F KR2 Capture, LC 32 catfish Culture, Sport Family: Heteropneustidae Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) Stinging catfish F, B KR1, KR2 Capture, LC FF7509 Culture, Aquarium Family: Bagridae Mystus armatus Kerala mystus F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Day, 1865) ENWGI Aquarium Mystus cavasius Gangetic mystus F, B KR2 Capture LC 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Mystus gulio Long whiskers F, B KR2 Capture LC 32 (Hamilton, 1822) catfish Mystus vittatus Striped dwarf F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Bloch, 1794) catfish Aquarium Family: Loricariidae (Contd.) CANCIYAL et al.: FISHES OF KODAYAR RIVER, KANYAKUMARI, INDIA 481

Table 1 — Systematic check-list of fishes of Kodayar river system with note on endemic or exotic status, common name, habitat, occurrence of fishes, fishery & conservation status Taxa Common name Habitat Distribution Fishery IUCN ZSI Reg no./ of fishes Information Status reference Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus Vermiculated F KR2 Aquarium NE 32 (Weber, 1991) EXI sailfin catfish Order: Mugiliformes Family: Mugilidae Rhinomugil corsula Corsula F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Hamilton, 1822) Culture Planiliza melinopterus Otomebora mullet F, B, M KR3 Capture LC F12587/2 (Valenciennes, 1836) Planiliza tade Tade gray mullet F, B, M KR3 Capture, LC F12586/2 (Forsskål 1775) Culture Order: Beloniformes Family: Adrianichthyidae Oryzias melastigma (McClelland, 1839) - F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Family: Belonidae Xenentodon cancila (Hamilton, 1822) Freshwater F, B, M KR2 Capture, LC 32 garfish Aquarium Family: Hemiramphidae Hyporhamphus xanthopterus Red-tipped F, B, M KR2 Capture, VU 32 (Valenciennes 1847) halfbeak Aquarium Order: Cyprinodontiformes Family: Aplocheilidae Aplocheilus lineatus Malabar killie F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 (Valenciennes, 1846) Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton, 1822) Blue panchax F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 Family: Poeciliidae Gambusia affinis Mosquitofish F, B KR2 Aquarium LC 32 (Baird & Girard, 1853) EXI Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859 EXI Guppy F, B KR2 Aquarium NA 32 Poecilia sphenops Molly F, B KR2 Aquarium NE 32 (Valenciennes, 1846) EXI Order: Synbranchiformes Family: Mastacembelidae Macrognathus aral One-stripe F, B KR2 Capture LC 32 (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) spinyeel Macrognathus guentheri Malabar spiny eel F KR2 Capture, LC FF7496 (Day, 1865) ENWGI Aquarium Mastacembelus armatus Zig-zag eel F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Lacepède, 1800) Aquarium Order: Perciformes Family: Ambassidae Ambassis ambassis Commerson's F, B KR2, KR3 Capture LC F12584 (Lacepède, 1802) glassy Ambassis gymnocephalus Bald glassy F, B, M KR3 Aquarium LC F12585/2 (Lacepède, 1802) Chanda nama Hamilton, 1822 Elongate glass- F, B KR2 Capture, LC FF7505 perchlet Aquarium Family: Cichlidae Pseudetroplus maculatus Orange chromide F, B KR2 Capture, LC FF7506 (Bloch, 1795) Aquarium Etroplus suratensis Pearlspot F, B KR2 Capture, LC 32 (Bloch, 1790) Culture, Aquarium Oreochromis mossambicus Mozambique F, B KR2 Capture, NT FF7507 (Peters, 1852) EXI tilapia Culture Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) Nile tilapia F, B KR2 Capture, NE 32 EXI Culture (Contd.) 482 INDIAN J. GEO-MAR. SCI., VOL. 49, NO. 03, MARCH 2020

Fig 2 — Fish Diversity of Kodayar river

The findings of the present study indicated the amphibius, Salmostoma boopis, Ompok malabaricus, presence of 12 species of fish viz., Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Mystus armatus and Macrognathus guentheri are Dawkinsia filamentosa, Dawkinsia tambraparniei, endemic to Western Ghats of India. Whereas, 10 Hypselobarbus kurali, Hypselobarbus micropogon, species viz., Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cyprinus carpio, Laubuka dadiburjori, Pethia punctata, Puntius Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Clarias gariepinus, CANCIYAL et al.: FISHES OF KODAYAR RIVER, KANYAKUMARI, INDIA 483

Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, Gambusia affinis, fish fauna in this zone of the river. Due to non- Poecilia reticulata, Poecilia sphenops, Oreochromis availability of literature on fish diversity of Kodayar mossambicus and Oreochromis niloticus are exotic to river effective comparison in the rate of decline in fish India (Table 1). diversity is not possible but the present report would About 56 species are considered worth for capture serve as baseline information for future fish faunal fishery, 42 species with ornamental value for studies. aquarium purpose, 23 species for fish farming and 14 species for sports fishery in the present study Conclusion The Kodayar river system supports diverse fish fauna (Table 1). Among the species listed under the threatened category, Dawkinsia tambraparniei, worth for rural livelihood through capture, culture, Hypselobarbus micropogon, Clarias magur are aquarium or sports fishery. The findings of present communication may serve as baseline information for endangered while Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Dawkinsia rohani, Devario fraseri, Hyporhamphus xanthopterus planning, conservation and management of fisheries resources of Kodayar river in the future. are vulnerable. There were 71 species under the non-threatened category, among which 7 are near Acknowledgement threatened, whereas 54 species belonged to least Authors are grateful to Director, Zoological Survey concern, one species belonged to data deficient and 9 of India for encouragements and for permitting Miss species have not been evaluated (Table 1). C. Johnson to work in the Freshwater fish Section of

ZSI, Kolkata. Discussion

Study on fish fauna of Kodayar river system is the References first of its kind and study revealed presence of 1 Government of Tamilnadu, Fisheries Department, Inland 79 species, contributing about 51.98 % to the Fisheries (2018) Retrieved 20 February 2018, freshwater fish diversity of Tamil Nadu37 and about (http://www.fisheries.tn.gov.in/Inland-main.html). 2 De, D.K., Estuarine Fisheries. In: Handbook of Fisheries and 5.67 % to the total endemic fish diversity of Western nd 35 Aquaculture, 2 edn., edited by Ayyappan, A., Moza, U., Ghats of India . The negative impact of exotic fishes Gopalkrishnan, A., Meenakumari, B., Jena, J.K., and Pandey on the native fish fauna of Kodayar river system has A.K., (ICAR, New Delhi), (2011) 208-237. not yet been reported. The threat status analysis of 3 Ramesh, R., Nammalwar, P. & Gowri, V.S., The Database on fishes revealed 10.13 % of species under threatened Coastal Information of Tamilnadu, Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre, Department of Environment, category facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Government of Tamilnadu Chennai. Tamil Nadu Forest Henceforth, native threatened fishes like Dawkinsia Department, (2008) 153. tambraparniei, Hypselobarbus micropogon, Clarias 4 Arunachalam, M., Assemblage structure of stream fishes in magur, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Dawkinsia rohani, the Western Ghats (India), Hydrobiologia, 430(2000) 1–31. Devario fraseri, Hyporhamphus xanthopterus need to 5 Devi, K.R. & Indra, T.J., Freshwater ichthyofaunal resources of Tamil Nadu, in: Endemic Fish Diversity of Western Ghats, be conserved through broodstock development, edited by A.G. Ponniah & A. Gopalakrishnan, (NBFGR – captive breeding, seed production and ranching of NATP Publication) 2000, pp. 77-97. seed in Kodayar river system. 6 Johnson, J.A. & Arunachalam, M., Diversity, distribution The number of fishes observed in Kodayar river and assemblage structure of fishes in streams of southern system was higher than those earlier reports from Western Ghats, India, J. Threat. Taxa. 1(10) (2009) 507-513. 6 7 Jerdon, T.C., On the freshwater fishes of southern India, rivers of Tamil Nadu by Johnson and Arunachalam , Madras J. Lit. Sci. 15(1849) 302–346. Ramanujam et al.18, Indra38 which might be attributed 8 Raj, S.B., Notes on the freshwater fish of Madras, Rec. to limited study areas. All the above reports agreed Indian Museum, XII (Part VI) (1916) 249-294. with the dominance of cyprinids over other freshwater 9 Rajan, S., Notes on a collection of fish from the headwaters of the Bhavani River, south India, J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., fish families. The present record of 10 fish species 53(1) (1955) 44–48. from Thengapattanam estuary is much lesser than 10 Jayaram, K.C., Venkateswarlu, T. & Raghunathan, M.B., A earlier reports from estuaries of Tamil Nadu by survey of the Cauvery River system with a major account of Ramanujam and Anbarasan17, Ramanujam et al.18, its fish fauna, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occ. Paper 36(1982) 19 20 21 115. Bharadhirajan et al. , Khan , Pavinkumar et al. . 11 Devi, K.R., On a small collection of fish from Javadi Hills, The lower number of fish diversity in Thengapattanam North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, estuary may be attributed to the poor exploration of 91(3-4) (1992) 353-360. 484 INDIAN J. GEO-MAR. SCI., VOL. 49, NO. 03, MARCH 2020

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