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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Communication An overview of fishes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their present conservation status
Kazi Ahsan Habib, Amit Kumer Neogi, Najmun Nahar, Jina Oh, Youn-Ho Lee & Choong-Gon Kim
26 January 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 1 | Pages: 15154–15172 DOI: 10.11609/jot.4893.12.1.15154-15172
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Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.4893.12.1.15154-15172
#4893 | Received 14 February 2019 | Final received 03 November 2019 | Finally accepted 04 December 2019
C o m m u n An overview of fshes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh i c and their present conservaton status a t 1 2 3 4 i Kazi Ahsan Habib , Amit Kumer Neogi , Najmun Nahar , Jina Oh , o Youn-Ho Lee 5 & Choong-Gon Kim 6 n 1 Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetcs, Faculty of Fisheries, Aquaculture & Marine Science, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh. 2,3 Aquatc Bioresource Research Lab, Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetcs, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh. 4,5,6 Marine Ecosystem Research Division, Korea Insttute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Busan 49111, Korea. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], 4 [email protected], 5 [email protected], 6 [email protected]
Abstract: Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world is located in Bangladesh and India. Studies done on the diversity of fsh fauna in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh are sparse and patchy. Here we take the opportunity to provide an updated checklist of the fshes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh based on primary and secondary data. Field surveys were undertaken in the aquatc habitat of Sundarbans core area along with its adjacent marine habitat from June 2015 to July 2017. Based on published informaton and primary observatons the updated list of fshes covers a total of 322 species belonging to 217 genera, 96 families, and 22 orders. Additonally, four species of fshes, are newly reported in Bangladesh waters, viz., Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899; Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915; Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934; Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849. The global IUCN Red List status of each species has been enlisted. The updated checklist will consttute the reference inventory of fsh biodiversity for the Sundarbans, a natural world heritage site.
Keywords: Bangladesh, checklist, fsh, mangroves, Sundarbans, World Natural Heritage Site.
st nd Abbreviatons: Dorsal fn D1—1 Dorsal fn | D2—2 Dorsal fn | P1—Pectoral fn| P2—Pelvic fn| A—Anal fn.
Editor: J.A. Johnson, Wildlife Insttute of India, Dehradun, India. Date of publicaton: 26 January 2020 (online & print)
Citaton: Habib, K.A., A.K. Neogi, N. Nahar, J. Oh, Y-H. Lee & C-G. Kim (2020). An overview of fshes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their present conservaton status. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(1): 15154–15172. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.4893.11.15.15154-15172
Copyright: © Habib et al. 2020. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
Funding: This research has been carried out under Yeosu project funded by Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea Foundaton.
Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.
Author details: See end of this artcle.
Author contributon: Kazi Ahsan Habib and Amit Kumer Neogi collected the data and drafed this artcle; Amit Kumer Neogi, Jina Oh, Kazi Ahsan Habib analysed the morphological and molecular data; Najmun Nahar analysed the morphological characters; Choong-Gon Kim and Youn-Ho Lee reviewed the manuscript.
Acknowledgements: We are thankful to Md. Amir Hosain Chowdhury, DCCF of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) for his valuable comments and informaton during drafing the paper. We also pay thanks to the Bangladesh Forest Department for their cooperaton during the study at Sundarbans.
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INTRODUCTION availability in the Sundarbans waters such as Seidenstcker & Hai (1983), Rahman (1989), Acharya & Kamal (1994), Mangroves are intertdal forested wetlands confned to Chantarasri (1994), Bernacsek (2001), Bernacsek & Haque the tropical and subtropical regions (Tomlinson 1986). The (2001), Shah & Hossain (2006), and Rahman et al. (2009). total area of the mangroves in the globe is an estmated The main objectve of the present study is to assess the 18.1 million ha (Spalding et al. 1997). The Sundarbans, the existng fsh fauna of Sundarbans and accumulate all fsh single largest tract of mangrove forest in the world covers species from the valid records made so far. Additonally, about 1 million hectares in the delta of the river Ganges, we have reviewed the present fshing practces in the Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Among the total area 60% lies Sundarbans detrimental to fsh biodiversity, and the in Bangladesh and the rest in India. This transboundary natonal policies made for fsheries management and ecosystem is extremely important both ecologically and conserving fsh diversity. economically as it provides a nursery and breeding area for key fshes including those of the Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans in Bangladesh covers an area of 6,017km2 METHODS along its southwestern part sharing 4,143km2 of land and 1,874km2 of water bodies comprising of hundreds We consulted the primary and previously published of creeks, canals, small and large rivers, and estuaries. artcles, records, and books on ichthyological studies in the This mangrove forest was declared a Ramsar site by the Sundarbans to build this checklist. These collectons are Conventon of Wetlands of Internatonal Importance in mainly taken for preparing the list of the fshes known to 1992 and declared as a Natural World Heritage Site by occur in the Sundarbans and their valid identfcaton and UNESCO in 1997 (Figure 1). Despite contnued degradaton, confrmaton. Unbiased and sincere eforts were made in the Sundarbans contributes 3% to the country’s gross accumulatng such a valuable treasure. domestc product out of 5% contributon of the country’s In the present survey, specimens of fshes were forestry sector (Roy & Alam 2012). sampled between June 2015 and July 2017 from the major The fsh diversity of the brackish water ecosystem of rivers of the Sundarbans, viz., Baleswar, Shibsa, Passur, the Sundarbans is usually associated with tolerance to Shela, Kobadak, Kalindi, Kholpetua, and a few of the tdal a wide range of salinity fuctuaton and migraton. The estuaries, and adjacent marine habitat in the Sundarbans, freshwater fsh species having low salinity tolerance enter with the help of local fshermen during fshing (Figure 1). into upper estuarine zone mainly in the period of ebb tde, The fshes were also collected from the fsh markets inside while marine fshes are usually confned to the lower zone. or near the Sundarbans of Khulna, Bagherhat, and Satkhira Though some species travel freely in the whole salinity area districts. The spellings of scientfc names and species for a major part of the year, very few can be considered validity were checked following Fishbase (Froese & Pauly as ‘natve’ (Mishra 2017). Basically, most of the fsh 2018) and the California Academy of Sciences Catalog of species enter into the brackish waters of the Sundarbans Fishes (Eschmeyer et al. 2018). The arrangement of families and spend for a certain period of their life cycle there and order are made according to Nelson (2006) and Laan either for shelter and feeding or for spawning purposes. et al. (2014). The identfcaton was made by using FAO The major threat to fshes of the Sundarbans region are fsh species catalogues which present detailed taxonomic environmental changes, reducton of freshwater discharge accounts of all known species of individual families. As during lean seasons, increased salinity, use of destructve the checklist is intended to be a master reference for the fshing gear (e.g., set bag net, small mesh size gill net), over Sundarbans habitat conservaton and management, we exploitaton, extracton of resources, and polluton. consulted the latest global IUCN Red List status of each Informaton regarding the diversity of fsh in the species (IUCN 2018). For habitat preference, we consulted Sundarbans of Bangladesh is scatered. Fishes of the previous data, our primary observaton, reference website Sundarbans were frst described in the study of Hamilton (Froese & Pauly 2018) and diferent reference books (1822). He described about 71 fsh species in the Gangetc (Siddiqui et al. 2007; Rahman et al. 2009). DNA barcoding estuaries and 51 of them occurred from the Sundarbans. through mitochondrial COI gene sequencing was done for Afer the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, several the newly recorded species during the present survey and researchers and authors published diferent scientfc and the sequence was submited to GenBank. conference papers, project reports, guides and books on fsh faunal diversity especially since 1978. Only some of them can be considered as valid references on the species
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Figure 1. Map showing the locaton of Sundarbans, Bangladesh where the fshes were recorded from June 2015 to July 2017.
RESULTS Bangladesh, viz., Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899; Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915; Based on the previously published informaton, Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934; Uranoscopus specimens housed in the Aquatc Bioresource Research cognatus Cantor, 1849 (Image 1). Lab., SAU and observatons in the present study, the updated list of fshes of Sundarbans, Bangladesh provides Order Carcharhiniformes informaton of 322 species belonging to 217 genera Family Triakidae of 96 families and 22 orders (Table 1). In the present Genus Mustelus Linck 1790 checklist, we have not considered any descripton. The Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899 column named as “present study” of Table 1, signifes Materials examined: Specimens collected from our primary data collected between July 2015 and June Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate 2017 and “previous literature” signifes the names 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1A); coll. Habib and Neogi, which were enlisted in previous work on Sundarbans 03.ii.2016; one specimen (Specimen voucher F1602sb-73). conducted by diferent scholars. Among the enlisted fsh, GenBank accession number MF588562. Chondrichthyes (cartlaginous fsh) contains 23 genera, 11 Identfcaton: Body color reddish-grey above and dull families and six orders whereas bony fsh (Osteichthyes) white ventrally. Small sized shark, with an elongate and covers 194 genera, 85 families and 16 orders. Maximum slender body; snout markedly pointed and long. Mouth numbers of fshes (165 species, 50.24%) were recorded triangular, with well-developed labial folds. Skin fairly from order Perciformes in Sundarbans, Bangladesh. The smooth. number of fsh species recorded under 22 orders is given at Figure 2. In the present artcle, we report four new distributonal records of fshes from the Sundarbans region of
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Order Tetraodontformes 16.xii.2016; two specimens (Specimens voucher Family Tetraodontdae F1612sb-69, F1612sb-66). GenBank accession numbers Genus Lagocephalus Swainson, 1839 MF588553, MF614771.
Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 Identfcaton: Fin formula D1 VIII; D2 I/22 P119; P2 I/5; Materials examined: Specimens collected from A II+I/17. Body color bluish-green above and silvery white Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate below; dorsal fn dusky; flamentous sof rays black, sof 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1B); coll. K.A. Habib, 03.ii.2016; dorsal fn yellow; pectoral and anal fns silvery; caudal three specimens (Specimens voucher F1602sb-65-2, fn yellowish green; pectoralfn dusky. A black opercular F1602sb-64, F1602sb-65-3). GenBank accession numbers spot present. Body strongly compressed and very deep. MF588654, MF588655, MF588656. Eye diameter about equal to or larger than snout length.
Identfcaton: Fin formula D 22-23; P1 14; P2 6; A 19-21. Central rays of dorsal and anal fns elongated. Scales small; Color of dorsal side of the body is brown with several dark breast naked. Lateral line anteriorly with a moderate bands crossing over the back; a silver-white band running regular arch. on the side of the body was found in the holotype. The dorsal fn dusky. The caudal fn dark brown or almost black Order Perciformes with the dorsal and ventral white tps. The pectoral and Family Uranoscopidae anal fns pale. Body stout and small sized fshes, covered Genus Uranoscopus Linnaeus, 1758 with small spinules on back, abdomen and throat; caudal Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849 fn rounded. Materials examined. Specimens collected from Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate Order Perciformes 21.71N; 89.59E (Image 1D); coll. Habib and Neogi, Family Carangidae 21.ii.2017; three specimens (Specimens voucher Genus Carangoides Bleeker, 1851 F1702sb-29, F1702sb-30, F1702sb-31).
Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934 Identfcaton. Fin formula D1 IV; D2 I/8; P114; P2 I/5; A Materials examined: Specimens collected from III/8. Body color grayish above and minute black dots on Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate upper third body; sivery below; opercle golden. Body 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1C); coll. Habib and Neogi, compresses; anterior moderately and posterior deeply.
Figure 2. Order-wise distributon of listed fshes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh.
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A
B
C
D © Amit Kumer Neogi & Najmun Nahar
Image 1. Four new country records from the Sundarbans, Bangladesh: A—Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899 | B—Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 | C—Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934 | D—Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849.
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Table 1. List of fsh species from the Sundarbans including their order and family status, english name, local name, scientfc name, Global IUCN Red List status, earlier literature record and their habitats (Abbreviatons: EN—Endangered | VU—Vulnerable | NT—Near Threatened | LC—Least Concern | DD—Data Defcient | NE—Not Evaluated | F—Freshwater | B—Brackish | M—Marine).
Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat Orectolobiformes 1 Grey Bamboo Shark Chiloscyllium griseum NT √ M,B Hemiscylliidae 2 Dog Shark Scoliodon latcaudus NT √ M,B Bernacsek 3 Shark Glyphis glyphis EN M,F,B Carcharhiniformes 2001а Carcharhinidae 4 Scoliodon Walbeehmii Rhizoprionodon acutus NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 5 Blacktp Reef Shark Carcharhinus melanopterus NT M,B 2001а 6 Scalloped Hammerhead Shark Sphyrna lewini EN √ M,B Carcharhiniformes Sphyrnidae Bernacsek 7 Hammerhead Shark Eusphyra blochii EN M,B 2001а Carcharhiniformes 8 Hardnose Smoothhound Mustelus mosis DD √ M Triakidae Torpediniformes 9 Brown Spoted Numbfsh Narcine brunnea NE √ M Narkidae Bernacsek 10 Electric Ray Narcine tmlei DD M Torpediniformes 2001а Narcinidae 11 Spotail Sleeper Ray Narke dipterygia DD √ M Bernacsek 12 Gulter Fish Rhynchobatus djiddensis VU M,B Rajiformes 2001а Rhinobatdae 13 Sharpnose Guiterfsh, Shovelnose Glaucostegus granulatus VU √ M
14 Scaly Whipray Brevitrygon imbricata DD √ M,F,B
15 Dwarf Whipray Brevitrygon walga NT √ M Bernacsek 16 Stngray Himantura undulata VU M 2001а Leopard Stngray, Retculate 17 Himantura uarnak VU √ M,B Whipray, Honeycomb Stngray Bernacsek 18 Myliobatformes Cowtail Stngray Pastnachus sephen NE M,F,B Dasyatdae 2001а Bernacsek 19 Bleeker's Whipray Pateobats uarnacoides VU M 2001а Bernacsek 20 White Spoted Stngray Maculabats gerrardi VU M,B 2001а Bernacsek 21 Cowtail Stngray Pastnachus sephen NT M,F,B 2001а 22 Sharp Snout Stngray Telatrygon zugei NT √ M,B Myliobatformes Longtail Buterfy Ray, Buterfy 23 Gymnura poecilura NT √ M Gymnuridae Ray Elopiformes Bernacsek 24 Tenpounder,Tarpon Elops machnata LC M,B Elopidae 2001а Elopiformes 25 Indo-Pacifc Tarpon Megalops cyprinoides DD √ M,F,B Megalopidae 26 Red Sea White-Spoted Moray Gymnothorax punctatus NE √ M
27 Moray Eel Gymnothorax tle NE √ M,F,B Anguilliformes Muraenidae 28 Moray Eel Gymnothorax sp. NE √ M,B
29 Slender Giant Moray Strophidon sathete NE √ M,B Huda et al. 30 Yellow Pike Conger Congresox talabonoides NE M,B 2003 Anguilliformes Bernacsek 31 Eel Congresox talabonoides NE M,B Muraenesocidae 2001а Bernacsek 32 Daggertooth Pike Conger Muraenesox cinereus NE M,F,B 2001а Anguilliformes 33 Boro Snake Eel Pisodonophis boro LC √ M,F,B Ophichthidae
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat 34 Purple Spaghet Eel Moringua raitaborua NE √ F,B Anguilliformes Anguillidae 35 Giant Motled Eel Aquilla bengalensis NT √ M,F,B Chacunda Gizzard Shad, 36 Anodontostoma chacunda NE √ M,F,B Shortnodse Gizard Shad 37 Indian River Shad Gudusia chapra LC √ F,B
38 Kelee Shad Hilsa kelee NE √ M,F,B Bloch’s Gizzard Shad, Longfnned 39 Nematalosa nasus LC √ M,F,B Gizzard Shad 40 White Sardine Escualosa thoracata NE √ M,F,B Clupeiformes Bernacsek 41 Clupeidae Gold Stripe Sardine Sardinella gibbosa NE M 2001а 42 Sardine Sardinella fmbriata NE √ M,B
43 Indian Oil Sardine Sardinella longiceps NE √ M
44 Blacktp Sardinella Sardinella melanura NE √ M
45 River Shad, Hilsa Shad Tenualosa ilisha LC √ M,F,B
46 Toli Shad, Shad Tenualosa toli NE √ M,F,B
47 Goldspoted Grenadier Anchovy Coilia dussumieri NE √ M,F,B
48 Neglected Grenadier Anchovy Coilia neglecta LC √ M,B
49 Ramcarat Grenadier Anchovy Coilia ramcarat NE √ M,B Bernacsek 50 Gangetc Hairfn Anchovy Setpinna phasa NE F,B 2001а 51 Scaly Hairfn Anchovy Setpinna taty NE √ M,B
52 Clupeiformes Indian Anchovy Stolephorus indicus NE √ M,B Engraulidae 53 Common Hairfn Anchovy Setpinna tenuiflis NE √ M,B
54 Spined Anchovy Stolephorus tri NE √ M,B Bernacsek 55 Anchovy Thryssa dussumieri LC M,B 2001а 56 Hamilton's Thryssa Thryssa hamiltonii NE √ M,B Oblique Jaw Thryssa, Gangetc 57 Thryssa purava NE √ M,B Anchovy Clupeiformes Bernacsek 58 Wolf Herring Chirocentrus nudus LC M Chirocentridae 2001а 59 Dorab Wolf-Herring Chirocentrus dorab NE √ M,B Clupeiformes Bernacsek 60 Rainbow Sardine Dussumieria acuta LC M,F,B Dussumieriidae 2001а Bernacsek 61 Smooth Back Herring Raconda russeliana NE M,B 2001а Bernacsek 62 Indian Pellona Herring Pellona ditchela LC M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 63 Indian Ilisha Ilisha melastoma LC M,B Clupeiformes 2001а Pristgasteridae Bernacsek 64 Bigeye Herring Ilisha megaloptera LC M,F,B 2001а Huda & 65 Coromandal Ilisha Ilisha fligera DD M,F,B Haque 2003 66 Long Finned Herring Opisthopterus tardoore NE √ M,B Cypriniformes 67 Guntea Loach Lepidocephalichthys guntea LC √ F,B Cobitdae 68 Swamp Barb Puntus chola LC √ F Cypriniformes Bernacsek 69 Barb Puntus terio LC F Cyprinidae 2001а 70 Gangetc Scissortail Rasbora Rasbora rasbora LC √ F,B
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat 71 Canine Catish Eel Plotosus canius NE √ M,F,B Siluriformes Plotosidae Bernacsek 72 Striped Ell Tail Catish Plotosus lineatus NE M,B 2001а Siluriformes 73 Gagra Clupisoma garua LC √ F,B Schilbeidae 74 Gangetc Ailia Ailia coila NT √ F,B Siluriformes Ailiidae 75 Silond Catish, Silondia Vacha Silonia silondia LC √ F,B Siluriformes Bernacsek 76 Faty Catish Pangasius pangasius LC F,B Pangasiidae 2001а 77 Tengara Catish Mystus tengara LC √ F,B Bernacsek 78 Siluriformes Catish Mystus bleekeri LC F,B Bagridae 2001а Bernacsek 79 Long-Whiskered Catish Mystus gulio LC F,B 2001а Siluriformes Huda et al. 80 Walking Catish Clarias batrachus LC F,B Clariidae 2003 Siluriformes 81 Gangetc Goonch, Devil Catish Bagarius bagarius LC √ F,B Sisoridae 82 Gagora Catish Arius gagora NT √ M,F,B
83 Spoted Catish, Sea Catish Arius maculatus NE √ M,F,B
84 Yellow Sea Catish, Marine Catish Arius venosus NE √ M,B
85 Threadfn Sea Catish Arius arius LC √ M,B Bernacsek 86 Blacktp Sea Catish Plicofollis dussumieri LC M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 87 Siluriformes Flatmouth Sea Catish Plicofollis platystomus LC M,B Ariidae 2001а 88 Dusky Catish, Sona Sea Catish Sciades sona NE √ M,B
89 Engraved Catish Nemapteryx nenga NE √ M,B Huda & 90 Engraved Catish Nemapteryx caelata NE M,B Haque 2003 Bernacsek 91 Giant Sea Catish Netuma thalassina NE M,F,B 2001а 92 Bronze Catish Netuma bilineata NE √ M,F,B Siluriformes 93 Stnging catish Heteropneustes fossilis LC √ F,B Heteropneustdae 94 Bombay Duck Harpadon nehereus NE √ M,B Aulopiformes Synodontdae 95 Greater Lizard Fish Saurida tumbil LC √ M Gadiformes 96 Unicorn Cod Bregmaceros mcclellandi NE √ M,B Bregmacerotdae Lophiiformes 97 Shaggy Angler, Zebra Frogfsh Antennarius hispidus NE √ M Antennariidae Banded Needle Fish, Square Tail 98 Strongylura leiura NE √ M,B Alligator Gar Bernacsek 99 Spotail Needle Fish Strongylura strongylura NE M,B Beloniformes 2001а Belonidae Bernacsek 100 Needle Fish Tylosurus crocodilus NE M,B 2001а 101 Silver Needle Fish Xenentodon cancila LC √ M,F,B Bernacsek 102 Congaturi Halfeak Hyporhamphus limbatus LC M,F,B Beloniformes 2001а Hemiramphidae Georges Halfeak, Longbilled 103 Rhynchorhamphus georgii NE √ M,F,B Halfeak Bufon’s Halfeak, Bufon’s 104 Zenarchopterus bufonis NE √ M,B Beloniformes Garfsh Zenarchopteridae 105 Ectunto Halfeak Zenarchopterus ectunto NE √ F,B
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat Beloniformes 106 Tropical Two-Winged Flying Fish Exocoetus volitans LC √ M Exocoetdae Syngnathiformes 107 Red Cornetish, Flute-Mouth Fistularia petmba LC √ M,B Fistulariidae Syngnathiformes 108 Sea Horse, Smooth Seahorse Hippocampus kuda VU √ M,B Syngnathidae Synbranchiformes 109 Cuchia, Gangetc Mud Eel Monopterus cuchia LC √ F,B Synbranchidae 110 Lesser Spiny Eel Macrognathus aculeatus NE √ F,B Synbranchiformes Mastacembelidae 111 Striped Spiny Eel Macrognathus pancalus LC √ F,B Plaintail Turkeyfsh, Russell`S 112 Pterois russelii NE √ M,B Scorpaeniformes Firefsh Scorpaenidae Bernacsek 113 Miles Lion Fish Pterois miles NE M 2001а 114 Grey Stngfsh Minous monodactylus NE √ M Scorpaeniformes Synanceiidae 115 Painted Stringer Minous pictus NE √ M
116 Rough Flathead Grammoplites scaber NE √ M,B Bernacsek 117 Flathead Cociella punctata LC M 2001а 118 Spiny Flathead Kumococius rodericensis NE √ M Bernacsek 119 Scorpaeniformes Spoted Flathead Cociella crocodilus NE M,B Platycephalidae 2001а Bernacsek 120 Thorny Flathead Rogadius asper LC M 2001а Bernacsek 121 Flathead Rogadius pristger LC M 2001а 122 Bartail Flathead Platycephalus indicus NE √ M,B
123 Cloudy Grouper, Cloudy Rock Cod Epinephelus erythrurus VU √ M,B
124 Orangespoted Grouper Epinephelus coioides NT √ M,B Bernacsek 125 Blacktp Grouper Epinephelus fasciatus LC M,B Perciformes 2001а Epinephelidae Bernacsek 126 Grouper Epinephelus tauvina DD M 2001а Bernacsek 127 Vermillion Grouper Cephalopholis miniata LC M 2001а 128 Gaint Gruper Epinephelus lanceolatus VU √ M,B Terapon Perch, Three-striped 129 Terapon jarbua LC √ M,F,B Perciformes Tiger Fish Terapontdae 130 Big Eye Terapon theraps LC √ M,F,B
131 Moontail Bulls Eye Priacanthus hamrur LC √ M Perciformes Priacanthidae 132 Purple Spoted Big Eye Priacanthus tayenus LC M
133 Broad-banded Cardinalfsh Ostorhinchus fasciatus NE √ M Perciformes Apogonidae 134 Three Striped Cardinalfsh Apogon septemstriatus NE √ M
135 Gangetc Sillago Sillaginopsis panijus NE √ M,F,B Perciformes Sillaginidae 136 Silver Sillago Sillago sihama LC √ M,B Bernacsek 137 Asiatc Snakehead Channa orientalis NE F,B 2001а Perciformes Bernacsek 138 Striped Snakehead Channa striata NE F,B Channidae 2001а Bernacsek 139 Spoted Snakehead Channa punctata LC F,B 2001а Perciformes 140 Cobia, Black King Fish Rachycentron canadum LC √ M,B Rachycentridae Perciformes 141 Common Remora Remora remora LC √ M Echeneidae
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat 142 Razorbelly Scad Alepes kleinii LC √ M Bernacsek 143 Shrimped Scad Alepes djedaba LC M 2001а 144 Black-Fin Scad Alepes melanoptera LC √ M,B Huda & 145 Threadfn Trevally Alects indica LC M,B Haque 2003 Bernacsek 146 Threadfn Trevally Alects ciliaris LC M 2001а 147 Black-Fin Jack Atropus atropos LC √ M Bernacsek 148 Oxeye Scad Selar boops LC M 2001а Bernacsek 149 Bigeye Scad Selar crumenophthalmus NE M 2001а 150 Longfn Trevally Carangoides armatus NE √ M,B Perciformes 151 Carangidae Bigeye Trevally Caranx sexfasciatus LC √ M,B 152 Bumpnose Trevally Carangoides hedlandensis NE √ M Bernacsek 153 Trevally Carangoides malabaricus LC M 2001а 154 Giant Trevally, Giant Kingfsh Caranx ignobilis LC √ M,B
155 Red Tailed Mackerel Scad Decapterus kurroides NT √ M
156 Torpedo Scad Megalaspis cordyla LC √ M,B
157 Black Promfet Parastromateus niger NE √ M,B
158 Double Spoted Queenfsh Scomberoides commersonnianus LC √ M,B
159 Queen Fish Scomberoides tol NE √ M,B
160 Black Banded Trevally Seriolina nigrofasciata LC √ M,B
161 Longrakered Trevally Ulua mentalis LC √ M Perciformes 162 Moon Fish Mene maculata NE √ M,B Menidae 163 Orangefn Ponyfsh Photopectoralis bindus NE √ M,B
164 Shortnoso Ponyfsh Leiognathus brevirostris NE √ M,B Bernacsek 165 Striped Ponyfsh Leiognathus fasciatus LC M,B 2001а Perciformes 166 Common Ponyfsh Leiognathus equulus NE √ M,F,B Leiognathidae Bernacsek 167 Deep Pugnose Pony Fish Secutor ruconius NE M,F,B 2001а 168 Pugnose Pony Fish Secutor insidiator NE √ M,B
169 Tooth Pony Gazza minuta NE √ M,B Perciformes Bernacsek 170 False Trovally Lactarius lactarius NE M,B Lactariidae 2001а 171 John`S Snapper, Red Snapper Lutjanus johnii LC √ M,B Huda & 172 Malabar Red Snapper Lutjanus malabaricus NE M,B Haque 2003 Perciformes Bernacsek 173 Lutjanidae Pinjalo Snapper Pinjalo pinjalo LC M 2001а Bernacsek 174 Blood Snapper Lutjanus sanguineus NE M 2001а Bernacsek 175 Stargazer Astroscopus gutatus LC M 2001а Huda & 176 Dollfus' Stargrazer Uranoscopus gutatus NE M Perciformes Haque 2003 Uranoscopidae Bernacsek 177 Stargazer Ichthyscopus inermis NE M 2001а Bernacsek 178 Stargazer Ichthyscopus lebeck NE M 2001а Perciformes 179 Four Barred Tigerfsh Datnioides polota NE √ F,B Datnioididae
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat
180 Perciformes Whiptail Silverbiddy Gerres flamentosus LC √ M,F,B 181 Gerreidae Silverbiddy Gerres sp. NE √ M,B
182 Perciformes Silver Grunt Pomadasys argenteus LC √ M,F,B 183 Haemulidae Blotched Grunt Pomadasys maculatus LC √ M,B Bernacsek 184 Ongspine Seabream Argyrops spinifer NE M 2001а Perciformes Bernacsek 185 Yellow Seabrem Acanthopagrus latus DD M,F,B Sparidae 2001а 186 River Bream Acanthopagrus berda LC √ M,F,B Bernacsek 187 Double Whip Threadin Bream Nemipterus nematophorus NE M Perciformes 2001а Nemipteridae 188 Pink Perch Nemipterus japonicus NE √ M
189 Goatee Croaker Dendrophysa russelii NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 190 Croaker Chrysochir aureus NE M,B 2001а Bernacsek 191 Blackmouth Croaker Atrobucca nibe NE M 2001а 192 Sharpnose Hammer Croaker Johnius borneensis NE √ M,F,B
193 Silver Croaker Pennahia argentata NE √ M
194 Large-Eye Croaker Johnius plagiostoma NE √ M,F,B
195 Coitor, Crocker Johnius coitor LC √ M,F,B
196 Large Fined Croaker Johnius macropterus NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 197 Black Croaker Johnius dussumieri NE M 2001а Bernacsek 198 Gangetc Bola, Croaker Johnius gangetcus NE M,B 2001а 199 Perciformes Kathala Croaker Kathala axillaris NE √ F,B Sciaenidae 200 Cuja Croaker Macrospinosa cuja NE √ M Bernacsek 201 Pama Croaker Otolithes parna NE M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 202 Lesser Tiger Toothed Croaker Otolithes cuvieri NE M 2001а 203 Tiger Toothed Croaker Otolithes ruber NE √ M
204 Pama Croaker Otolithoides pama NE √ M,B
205 Bronze Croaker Otolithoides biauritus NE √ M,B
206 Panna Croaker Panna microdon NE √ M,F,B
207 Donkey Croaker Pennahia anea NE √ M,B Bernacsek 208 Spindle Croaker Pseudotolithus elongatus LC M 2001а 209 Spoted Croakor Protonibea diacanthus NE √ M,F,B
210 Blotched Tiger-Toothed Croaker Pterotolithus maculatus LC √ M,B
211 Fourfnger Threadfn Eleutheronema tetradactylum NE √ M,B
212 Indian Threadfn Leptomelanosoma indicum NE √ M,F,B
213 Perciformes Blackspot Threadfn Polydactylus sextarius NE √ M,F,B Polynemidae Bernacsek 214 Golden Threadfn Polydactylus sexflis NE M,B 2001а 215 Paradise Threadfn Polynemus paradiseus NE √ M,F,B
216 Red Sea Goatish Parupeneus forsskali NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 217 Goatish Parupeneus heptacanthus LC M,B 2001а Perciformes 218 Mullidae Goldband Goatish Upeneus moluccensis LC √ M,B 219 Sulphur Goatish Upeneus sulphureus LC √ M,B
220 Finstripe Goatish Upeneus taeniopterus LC √ M,B
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat 221 Largescale Archerfsh Toxotes chatareus NE √ M,B Perciformes Bernacsek 222 Toxotdae Banded Archerfsh Toxotes jaculatrix LC F,B 2001а Bernacsek 223 Spoted Sickle Fish Drepane punctata NE F,B 2001а Perciformes Bernacsek 224 Spadefsh Ephippus orbis NE M,F,B Drepanidae 2001а 225 Banded Drepane Drepane longimana NE √ M,B
226 Longarm Mullet Osteomugil cunnesius NE √ M,B
227 Striped Mullet Mugil cephalus LC √ M,F,B
228 Greenback Mullet Planiliza subviridis NE √ M,F,B
229 Corsula Mullet Rhinomugil corsula LC √ M,F,B Bernacsek 230 Mullet Valamugil speigleri NE F,B Perciformes 2001а Mugilidae 231 Yellowtail Mullet Sicamugil cascasia LC √ M,F,B Bernacsek 232 Goldspot Mullet Liza parsia NE F 2001а Bernacsek 233 Tade Grey Mullet Chelon planiceps NE M,F,B 2001а 234 Goldspot Mullet Chelon parsia NE √ M,F,B Huda & 235 Stargazer Uranoscopus gutatus NE M,F,B Haque 2003 Perciformes Huda & 236 Stargazer Ichthyscopus lebeck NE M Uranoscopidae Haque 2003 237 Two Spined Yellowtail Stargazer Uranoscopus cognatus NE √ M
238 Duckbill Sleeper Buts buts LC √ M
239 Black Spot Sleeper Goby Buts humeralis NE √ M,F,B Perciformes Huda & 240 Eleotridae Sleeper Goby Buts melanostgma NE M,F,B Haque 2003 241 Dusky Sleeper Eleotris fusca LC √ M,F,B
242 Mudskipper Boleophthalmus boddart LC √ M,F,B
243 Tank Goby Glossogobius giuris NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 244 Goby Apocryptes bato NE M,F,B 2001а Rahman 245 Bearded Worm Goby Taenioides cirratus DD M,F,B 1989 Bernacsek 246 Bumblebee Goby Brachygobius nunus NE M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 247 Goby Zappa confuentus NE F,B 2001а Huda & 248 Goby Pogonogoibius planiformes NE M,F,B Perciformes Haque 2003 Gobiidae Bernacsek 249 Mudskipper Periophthalmodon schlosseri NE M,B 2001а Bernacsek 250 Mudskipper Periophthalmus barbarus LC M,F,B 2001а 251 Rubicundus Eelgoby Odontamblyopus rubicundus NE √ M,F,B
252 Pointed-Tailed Goby Pseudapocryptes elongatus LC √ M,F,B
253 Walking Goby Scartelaos histophorus NE √ F,B
254 Knight Goby Stgmatogobius sadanundio NE √ M,B Bernacsek 255 Eel Goby Taenioides buchanani NE F,B 2001а 256 Burrowing Goby Trypauchen vagina NE √ M,B Perciformes 257 Arrow Dragonet Callionymus sagita NE √ M,B Callionymidae Perciformes 258 Spadefsh Ephippus orbis NE √ M Ephippidae
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat 259 Elongate Glassy Perchlet Chanda nama LC √ M Perciformes Bernacsek 260 Himalayan Glassy Perchlet Parambassis baculis LC F,B Ambassidae 2001а 261 Glassy Fish Parambassis ranga LC √ F Perciformes 262 Spoted Scat, Spoted Buterfsh Scatophagus argus LC √ F,B Scatophagidae Huda & 263 Streaked Rabbitish Siganus javus LC M,F,B Perciformes Haque 2003 Siganidae 264 White-Spoted Spinefoot Siganus canaliculatus LC √ M,B
265 Bigeye Barracuda Sphyraena forsteri NE √ M,B Bernacsek 266 Barracuda Sphyraena barracuda LC M Perciformes 2001а Sphyraenidae 267 Yellowstripe Barracuda Sphyraena chrysotaenia NE √ M
268 Banded Or Indian Barracuda Sphyraena jello NE √ M,B
269 Smallhead Ribbon Fish Eupleurogrammus mutcus NE √ M,B Perciformes Bernacsek 270 Large Head Ribbon Fish Trichiurus lepturus NE M,B Trichiuridae 2001а 271 Savalani Ribbon Fish Lepturacanthus savala NE √ M,B
272 Mackerel Tuna Euthynnus afnis LC √ M,B
273 Island Mackerel Rastrelliger faughni DD √ M
274 Indian Mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta LC √ M Bernacsek 275 Indian Mackerel Rastrelliger brachysoma DD M 2001а Bernacsek 276 Perciformes Striped Bonito Sarda orientalis LC M,B Scombridae 2001а Huda & 277 Buulet Tuna Auxis rochei NE M Haque 2003 Bernacsek 278 Seer Fish Scomberomorus lineolatus LC M,B 2001а 279 Barred Mackerel Scomberomorus commerson NT √ M
280 Indo-Pacifc King Mackerel Scomberomorus gutatus DD √ M
281 Perciformes Silver Pomfret Pampus argenteus NE √ M,B 282 Stromateidae Chinese Pomfret Pampus chinensis NE √ M Perciformes Bernacsek 283 Ornate Emperor Lethrinus ornatus LC M,B Lethrinidae 2001а Perciformes Bernacsek 284 Tripletail Lobotes surinamensis LC M Lobotdae 2001а Perciformes Bernacsek 285 Indian Lamphead Kurtus indicus NE M,B Kurtdae 2001а Perciformes 286 Barramundi Lates calcarifer NE √ M,F,B Latdae Perciformes 287 Climbing perch Anabas testudineus DD √ F,B Anabantdae 288 Javanese Flounder Pseudorhombus javanicus NE √ M,F,B
289 Commerson`S Sole Synaptura commersonnii NE √ M Bernacsek 290 Pleuronectformes Zebra Sole Zebrias altpinnis NE M,B Soleidae 2001а 291 Oriental Sole Brachirus orientalis NE √ M,F,B Bernacsek 292 Sole Brachirus pan LC M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 293 Malayfounder Pseudorhombus malayanus NE M,B 2001а Pleuronectformes Bernacsek 294 Large Tooth Flounder Pseudorhombus arsius NE M Paralichthyidae 2001а Bernacsek 295 Deep Flounder Pseudorhombus elevatus NE M,B 2001а
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Red List Present Previous Order/ Family English name Scientfc name status study literature Habitat Huda & 296 Indian Hailbut Psetodes erumei NE M Pleuronectformes Haque 2003 Psetodidae Bernacsek 297 Halibut Psetodes belcheri DD M 2001а Bernacsek 298 Fourlined Tongueso'le Cynoglossus bilineatus NE M,B 2001а Bernacsek 299 Gangetc Tonguesole Cynoglossus cynoglossus NE M,B 2001а Bernacsek 300 Long Tonguesole Cynoglossus kopsii NE M 2001а Bernacsek 301 Tongusole Symphurus trifasciatus NE M Pleuronectformes 2001а Cynoglossidae Bernacsek 302 Tongusole Paraplagusia bilineata NE M 2001а Bernacsek 303 Double Lined Tonguesole Cynoglossus lingua NE M,F,B 2001а Bernacsek 304 Speckled Tonguesole Cynoglossus punctceps NE M,F,B 2001а 305 Largescale Tonguesole Cynoglossus arel NE √ M,B Huda & 306 Saw Shark Anoxyprists cuspidata EN M,F,B Pristformes Haque 2003 Pristdae Bernacsek 307 Large Tooth Saw Fish Prists microdon NE M,F,B 2001а 308 Short-Nosed Tripod Fish Triacanthus biaculeatus NE √ M,F,B Tetraodontformes Bernacsek 309 Triacanthidae Tripod Fish Pseudotriacanthus strigilifer NE M 2001а Tetraodontformes Bernacsek 310 Triggerfsh Abalistes stellaris NE M Balistdae 2001а Tetraodontformes 311 Yellow Box Fish Ostracion cubicus NE √ M Ostraciidae 312 Gangetc Puferfsh Chelonodontops patoca LC √ M,F,B
313 Bengal Retculated Pufer Chelonodontops bengalensis NE √ M,B Bernacsek 314 Pufer Fish Arothron stellatus LC M,B 2001а Bernacsek 315 Pufer Fish Leiodon cutcuta NE F,B 2001а Tetraodontformes Bernacsek 316 Tetraodontdae Pufer Fish Carinotetraodon travancoricus VU F 2001а 317 Diamond-Back Pufer Lagocephalus guentheri LC √ M
318 Green Puferfsh Lagocephalus lunaris LC √ M
319 Latce Blaasop Takifugu oblongus LC √ M,B
320 Green Puferfsh Dichotomyctere fuviatlis LC √ F,B Tetraodontformes 321 Spoted Porcupine Fish Diodon hystrix LC √ M Diodontdae Batrachoidiformes 322 Gruntng Toadfsh Allenbatrachus grunniens NE √ M,B Batrachoididae
Head fat above. Caudal fn slightly emarginated. Lateral the fshes were basically gathered from the baseline line absent. Scales ctenoid. study of Chantarasri (1994) under a project of Food and Agriculture Organizaton (FAO) and this study contained DISCUSSION a list of 196 species reported from the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. This baseline survey on the fshes of the In Bangladesh, Acharya & Kamal (1994) frst made Sundarbans reproduced many subsequent reports on fsh a list of fshes from a porton of the Sundarbans where biodiversity in the 1980s. Afer that no signifcant study 53 species of pelagic and 124 species of demersal fshes on fsh diversity has been conducted on the Sundarbans were included. Aferward, another list of fnfshes has region of Bangladesh. Further, no conservaton status was been compiled by Bernacsek & Haque (2001) where assessed by IUCN locally in Bangladesh for Sundarbans’
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marine and brackish water fshes. In the present study, reported from the Sundarbans area. we have categorized all of the compiled fshes according to Recent taxonomic studies of the family Leiognathidae the Global IUCN status, which is given in the Table 1. (Pony fshes) suggest several changes; however, a total of About 54.35% species of enlisted fshes belongs seven species have been recorded in this family from the to the category of “Not Evaluated” and only 4.04% of Sundarbans. Among them we found four species where fshes are in “Data Defcient” (Figure 3). Around 33.23% Leiognathus brevirostris Valenciennes, 1835 was newly of species are categorized as “Least concern”, some of recorded in the Sundarbans. Pony fshes are small fshes which are exploited for commercial purposes such as and commercially not valuable. Those species are usually Elops machnata Forsskal, 1775; Gudusia chapra Hamilton, exploited for dried fsh. 1822; Coilia sp., Thryssa sp., Ilisha sp., Arius arius Pufer fshes belong to the family Tetraodontdae. Hamilton, 1822; Sillago sihama Forsskal, 1775; Alepes A total of 13 species of pufer fsh has been listed in sp. Among the fshes of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh this checklist from previous literature and the present enlisted in the present study 4.04% (13 species) of the study whereas Shamsuzzaman et al. (2015) recorded species are “Near Threatened” and 10 species (3.11%) nine marine pufer fsh species from Cox’s Bazar located species are “Vulnerable” viz. Rhynchobatus djiddensis on the eastern coast. Among 13 species of pufer fsh Forsskal, 1775, Glaucostegus granulatus Cuvier, 1829, reported in the Sundarbans untl now, we documented Himantura undulata Bleeker, 1852, Himantura uarnak four new records of which three species, viz., Triacanthus Gmelin, 1789, Pateobats uarnacoides Bleeker, 1852, biaculeatus Bloch, 1786; Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758, Maculabats gerrardi Gray, 1851, Hippocampus kuda and Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758 are locally new and Bleeker, 1852, Epinephelus erythrurus Valenciennes, 1828, the species Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 Epinephelus lanceolatus Bloch, 1790 and Carinotetraodon is the frst record in the country. This study also added travancoricus Hora & K.K. Nair, 1941. Four (1.24%) species a new described species, Chelonodontops bengalensis viz. Glyphis glyphis Müller & Henle, 1839, Sphyrna lewini Habib et al., 2018 from the same family. Grifth & Smith, 1834, Eusphyra blochii Cuvier, 1816, The Sundarbans is where mainland Bangladesh meets and Anoxyprists cuspidata Latham, 1794 are listed as the Bay of Bengal, making the area a globally unique “Endangered” based on the global Red List status. Based ecological niche. In the Indian part, 34 elasmobranchs on our observatons, Himantura uarnak, Glyphis glyphis, under 10 families and 271 bony fshes belonging to 61 Sphyrna lewini and Eusphyra blochii that are frequently families are known from the Sundarbans (Pal et al. 2014). found in the Sundarbans though the Red List mentons In the present checklist, 36% species have been found as these as threatened globally. the habitants of both marine and brackish water followed Most of the shark, skates, and rays (Elasmobranchs) by 26% as exclusively marine, 25% as marine, freshwater & are usually over-exploited for their fns and skins. Dried brackish, 11% freshwater and brackish, and 2% exclusively fns are used for the shark fn trade and other parts of the as freshwater fsh (Figure 4). shark body are used for other purposes. Sharks are sold Among the bony fshes a few rare species of fshes are through an open bidding system. Before selling, the fshes also reported from the Sundarbans of Bangladesh in this are graded species-wise and sometmes lengthwise. We updated check list, viz., Rhizoprionodon acutus, Himantura recorded a good number of Chiloscyllium griseum Muller uarnak, Gymnura poecilura, Epinephelus coioides & Henle, 1838 of the order Orectolobiformes which was Hamilton, 1822, Glaucostegus granulatus, Antennarius previously overlooked in the Elasmobranchs checklist of hispidus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Bregmaceros the Sundarbans. A total of 10 species of rays under the mcclellandi Thompson, 1840, Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, order Myliobatformes are enlisted here, among them 1758, Allenbatrachus grunniens Linnaeus, 1758, and Brevitrygon imbricata Bloch & Schneider, 1801 and Chelonodontops bengalensis (Image 2). Afer the previous Telatrygon zugei Müller & Henle, 1841 are new reports report by Hussain (1969), we report Antennarius hispidus from the Sundarbans area of Bangladesh. from the Bay of Bengal coast of Bangladesh. Eels are usually a less studied group in Bangladesh. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been Anguilla bengalensis Gray, 1831 which is locally named performed to assess diversity and breeding status of fsh as Bamosh, is a known commercially valuable species. exclusively for three protected wildlife sanctuaries in the In this present checklist, we list 10 species of the order Sundarbans. In the present study, we have tried to cover Anguilliformes. Among them Gymnothorax punctatus the sanctuaries to assess its existng species compositon Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Gymnothorax tle Hamilton, of fshes; however, detailed and year-round study is 1822, and Moringua raitaborua Hamilton, 1822 are newly necessary. One of the major limitatons in a year-round
15168 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172 J TT Fishes of the Sundarbans Habib et al. survey is the lack of a vessel suitable to go downstream of rivers and canals during the monsoon season due to the strong current of the heavy downwards water fow. Kobadak, Kholpetua, Rupsa, Shibsa, Pashur, Baleshwar, Raimangal, Arpangasia, Sakbaria are the main rivers passing through the Sundarbans which consttute about 2,000km2 of waterways (Khan 2011), in additon to numerous small rivers, canals and creeks. The Sundarbans in Bangladesh has been divided into northeastern freshwater, middle to southern moderately saline and Figure 3. Global IUCN Red List status of the fshes recorded from the western saline zones (Chafey et al. 1985). Therefore, it Sundarbans, Bangladesh. has brackish water as well as fresh water fsh available in the labyrinth of water bodies. The government made some regulatons and passed acts to protect and maintain sustainable producton of fsh in the Sundarbans area which are executed and enforced by the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD). For example, 18 ‘khals’ (canals) in the bufer zone of the Sundarbans have been permanently closed for fshing to ensure natural breeding of fsh under Khal Closure Regulaton (1989). Further, canals of less than 25 feet width have been banned for fshing throughout the Sundarbans. Entre fsh of these small canals can be caught easily using poison and trapping fsh setng net from two ends. Fishing is prohibited in three wildlife sanctuaries of Sundarbans by Wildlife Sanctuary Regulatons (1999). Close Season Regulaton (2000) banned catching of three Figure 4. Habitat-wise distributon of listed fshes of the Sundarbans, fnfsh species, viz., Pangasius pangasius, Plotosus canius, Bangladesh. Lates calcarifer, from 1 May to 30 June every year inside the Sundarbans to ensure natural breeding. BFD also implements the banning of Hilsa fshing each year imposed water, resultng in wastage. Thus, these larvae do not get by Bangladesh Government’s Department of Fisheries the opportunity to mature into fsh. It has been observed during peak breeding season during a certain tme of the that about 99 fn fsh and fry of other shrimp species are month between September and October every year (e.g., discarded for collectng a single shrimp post larva (Rashid 9–30 October in 2019). 2000; Azad et al. 2017). Considering such a detrimental Fishers of the Sundarbans use diferent kinds of efect, the Government of Bangladesh declared a harmful nets and gear for catching fsh which cause regulaton in 2000 where it was stated that “no person damage to aquatc lives, such as monoflament gill shall catch or cause to be caught fry or post larvae of fsh, nets (called current Jal) are responsible for the killing of shrimp and prawns of any kind in any form and in any way diferent aquatc animals and small sized fshes. Fine- in the estuary and coastal waters of Bangladesh” (MoFL meshed set bag nets (locally called Behundi Jal), pull and 2000). Unfortunately, thousands of people stll catch post push nets (Thela Jal), fne-mesh mosquito nets (Chingri larvae of fsh, shrimps and prawns and market their catch. Pona Jal), long shore nets (Khut Jal) have been identfed Poison fshing is another ecosystem threatening as the most destructve among all the fshing gears in the practce of the locals. It is very alarming that some Sundarbans. Catch mortality is very high for these nets. fshermen are illegally using lethal poison to catch fsh Set bag nets used for collectng shrimp fry in the estuary including crabs and shrimps in the Sundarbans canals. and rivers of the Sundarbans also catch eggs, spawn, They release poison into the water and collect the dying and larvae of all species along with adult fsh. It is highly fsh. The poison is so deadly that a few drops of it are detrimental for declining fsh diversity. Local fshers also sufcient to kill a large amount of fsh. It also contaminates use pull nets to catch post larvae (PL) of shrimps which the water, planktons, and mangrove tree roots. As toxic also hampers fshery growth. In such cases they dispose water fows into the large rivers from canals, it is not only unwanted larvae onto land rather than being freed into the fsh species that are being destroyed, but the entre
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© Amit Kumer Neogi & Najmun Nahar
A B
D
C
F E
G H
I J
Image 2. Pictures of some rare species recorded during the present study: A—Rhizoprionodon acutus Ruppell, 1837 | B—Himantura uarnak Gmelin, 1789 | C—Gymnura poecilura Shaw, 1804 | D. Epinephelus coioides Hamilton, 1822 | E—Glaucostegus granulatus Cuiver, 1829 | F—Antennarius hispidus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 | G—Bregmaceros mcclellandi Thompson, 1840 | H—Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758 | I— Allenbatrachus grunniens Linnaeus, 1758 | J—Chelonodontops bengalensis Habib, Neogi, Oh, Lee & Kim, 2018.
15170 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172 J TT Fishes of the Sundarbans Habib et al. aquatc ecosystem is also under threat. Such dangerous wetlands are reservoirs of freshwater. Both waterbodies practces cause a great risk to the fora and fauna of the are the source of many small indigenous freshwater fsh Sundarbans and may create long-term negatve efects on species such as Anabas testudineus, Clarias batrachus, its ecology. This illegal practce needs a close watch to stop Heteropneustes fossilis, Channa sp. etc. The actons it. Increased and regular patrolling inside the forests and, taken by the Government of Bangladesh to protect the motvaton and engaging fshers against this is under way availability and diversity of fsh in Sundarbans have been to stop this practce. shown in Table 2. This table has been prepared based on Mangrove forest is the breeding and nursery ground UNESCO (2016) along with diferent acts and regulatons of many fsh species. In a prohibitve order, the BFD had made by Bangladesh Government. Besides, to prevent banned fshing in all of the canals (around 450) in the over fshing, the number of boat license certfcates (BLC) Sundarbans for the two months of July and August in 2019 provided by BFD to allow fshermen for catching fsh inside for ensuring safe breeding and for conservaton. It has Sundarbans were limited. The maximum number of been also observed that the intensity of poison fshing is annual BLC issuance has been 12,000. The frst priority in higher in these two months; however, more studies need issuing BLC is given to those boat owners who live within to be carried out to accurately identfy the canals and 5km area around the Sundarbans. The maximum limit of creeks where breeding of fsh occurs and which fsh breed permits for a month is given for three tmes and 5–7 days especially in the downstream with their specifc breeding fshing is allowed under one permit (UNESCO 2016). seasons. Netng of fsh was also banned in the beels (e.g., This artcle is primarily aimed to compile the Andaria beel) and chatals of the Sundarbans from February informaton generated by authors and previous workers to March in 2019 for smooth breeding as proposed in on the occurrence of total fsh species from the past IRMP (2010). The beels and chatals are lake-like wetlands to the present in the core and adjacent marine areas of with statc water but chatals are relatvely smaller. Further, the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. This checklist should be a chatal gets totally dried out in the late winter but a beel considered as a working document and several additons does not. Some chatals are located between Chandpai of records of fsh species for Sundarbans are added with and Sharankhola range of the Sundarbans. Both of the survey work, partcularly in the unique aquatc ecosystem.
Table 2. Current monitor and conservaton measures taken by Bangladesh Forest Department.
Implementaton periods (month)
Measures taken J F M A M J J A S O N D Fishing ban in waterbodies of wildlife sanctuaries.
Fishing ban in specifc 18 declared canals in the bufer zone Fishing ban canals less than 25 feet wide throughout the Sundarbans Fishing ban in all canals
Fishing ban in beels and chatals Complete ban of using monoflament gill net (current jal), set bag net (behundi jal), push net (thela jal), channel stake net (khalpata jal) No fshing by poison, insectcide and de-watering No fshing by the net with mesh size more than 01 inch or 15 mm (knot to knot at stretch conditon). Fishing ban three fnfsh species viz. Pangas (Pangasius pangasius), Sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and Kain magur (Plotosus canius) Ban on Hilsa (Tenualosa ilsha) fshing for 22 days (a total of 4 days before and 17 days afer the full moon in October i.e. the month of Ashwin in Bangla calendar) Catching of Hilsa (Tenualosa ilsha) and Pangus (Pangasius pangasius) below 23 cm Boal (Wallago atu) lower than 12 inch. Ban on fshing of the species Shilon (Silonia silondia), Vola (Johnius argentatus) and Air (Bagarius bagarius) lower than 12 inch. Ban on fngerling and fsh fry collecton
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172 15171 J TT Fishes of the Sundarbans Habib et al.
More studies should be conducted on the Sundarbans and Sociobiology 11(2): 171–186. fshes to known the total scenario of this unique ecological Rahman, A.K.A. (1989). Freshwater Fishes of Bangladesh. Zoological Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 364pp. niche. Based on the study further management measures Rahman, A.K.A., S.M.H. Kabir, M. Ahmed, A.T.A. Ahmed, Z.U. can be taken with the forest department to protect Ahmed, Z.N.T. Begum, M.A. Hassan & M. Khondoker (eds.) (2009). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh - Marine Fishes, Vol- fsheries. Lastly, awareness campaigns need to be carried 24. Asiatc Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 226pp. out on a larger scale for fsh conservaton. Rashid, M.H. (2000). Report on Strengthening of Coastal and Marine Fisheries Management Project, Department of Fisheries (DoF), Matshya Bhaban, Ramna, Dhaka, Bangladesh. REFERENCES Roy, A.K.D. & K. Alam (2012). Partcipatory forest management for the sustainable management of the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Acharya, G. & D. Kamal (1994). Fisheries, pp. 101–140. In: Hussain, American Journal of Environmental Sciences 8(5): 549–555. htps:// Z. & G. Acharya (eds.). Mangrove of the Sundarbans, Vol. 2. IUCN, doi.org/10.3844/ajessp.2012.549.555 Bangladesh. Seidenstcker, J. & M.A. Hai (1983). The Sundarbans Wildlife Azad, A.K., C.K. Lin & K.R. Jensen (2007). Wild shrimp larvae harvestng Management Plan: conservaton in the Bangladesh Coastal Zone. in the coastal zone of Bangladesh: socio-economic perspectves. Asian IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 120pp. Fisheries Science 20: 339–357. Shah, M.S. & M.H. Hossain (2006). A checklist of fsh and crustaceans of Bernacsek, G. & E. Haque (2001). Fishing gears of the Sundarbans the South-west coast of Bangladesh, Khulna university studies, Special (draf): Internal notes. Khulna, Bangladesh, Sundarbans Biodiversity Issue, 1st Research Cell Conference, 129–140pp. Conservaton Project, Aquatc Resources Program, Ministry of Shamsuzzaman, M.M., A.H.A. Rashid, M.A.A. Mamun, S.K. Mazumder Environment and Forests, 101pp. & M.A. Haque (2005). Present Status of Marine Pufer Fishes in Bernacsek, G.M. (2001). Guideo t the Finfshes of Bangladesh Sundarbans. Bangladesh. Journal of Aquaculture Research and Development 6(10): Technical Report, 255pp. 1–5. htps://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9546.1000370 Chafey, D.R., F.R. Miller & K.H. Sandom (1985). A Forest Inventory of Siddiqui, K.U., M.A Islam, S.M.H. Kabir, M. Ahmed, A.T.A. Ahmed, A.K.A. the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, Land Resources Development Centre: Rahman, E.U. Haque, Z.U. Ahmed, Z.N.T. Begum, M.A. Hasan, M. Surrey, UK, 196pp. Khondker & M.M. Rahman (2007). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Chantarasri, S. (1994). Fisheries resources management for the Bangladesh, Vol. 23: Freshwater Fishes. Asiatc Society of Bangladesh, Sundarbans reserved forest. In: Integrated Resource Development of Dhaka, 300pp. th the Sundarbans Reserved Forest, Bangladesh- 4 Draf Final Report, Spalding, M., F. Blasco & C. Field (eds.) (1997). World Mangrove Atlas. FAO/UNDP, Khulna, Bangladesh, 171pp. The Internatonal Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan, Eschmeyer, W.N., R. Fricke & R.V.D. Laan (eds.) (2018). htp:// 323pp. researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/ Tomlinson, P.B. (1986). The Botany of Mangroves. Cambridge University fshcatmain.asp. Accessed 03 October 2018 Press, Cambridge, 414pp. Froese, R. & D. Pauly (2018). www.fshbase.org. Accessed 03 October UNESCO (2016). Updated Report of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) 2018. on Decision 39 COM 7B.8 by the World Heritage Commitee to World Habib, K.A., A.K. Neogi, J. Oh, Y.H. Lee & C.G. Kim (2018). Chelonodontops Heritage Center, UNESCO by Ministry of Environment and Forest, GoB, bengalensis (Tetraodontformes: Tetraodontdae): a new species of 49pp. htps://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/155112 pufer fsh from the northern Bay of Bengal based on morphology and DNA Barcode. Ocean Science Journal 54: 1–8. htps://doi.org/10.1007/ s12601-018-0054-7 Hamilton, F. (1822). An Account of The Fishes Found in The River Ganges Author details: Kazi Ahsan Habib is a Professor and the Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetcs at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural and Its Branches. Edinburgh & London, i–vii+405pp. University (SAU) in Bangladesh. The topics of his research focus are marine Hoq, M.E. (2008). Sundarbans Mangrove: Fish & Fisheries: Ecology, biodiversity, DNA taxonomy, DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, phylogenetcs, Resources, Productvity and Management Perspectves. Graphic populaton genetcs of marine organisms. He received PhD in Marine Biology Media, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 271pp. from Korea Insttute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) under the Huda, M.S. & M.E. Haque (2003). Fieldo Guide t Finfshes of Sundarban. University of Science and Technology (UST), South Korea. Currently he is serving Bangladesh Forest Department, Khulna, Bangladesh, 197pp. as the Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Science at SAU. Hussain, M.M. (1969). Marine and estuarine fshes of the north-east part Amit Kumer Neogi has a broad interest in biology encompassing the felds of animal taxonomy, entomology, genetcs, ecology, and conservaton biology. He Bay of Bengal. Scientfc Researches 7(1): 26–55. has been graduated from Jagannath University, Dhaka. He was a former senior IRMP (2010). Integrated Resources Management Plans for the researcher at Aquatc Bioresource Research Lab., in Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural Sundarbans. Forest Department Ministry of Environment and Forests, University (SAU) on fsheries molecular taxonomy. He is now working as a Dhaka, Bangladesh, 323pp. specialist in communicable disease programme at BRAC. Najmun Nahar is IUCN (2018). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Version 2018.1. working as a research assistant at Aquatc Bioresource Research Lab., in Sher-
Threatened Taxa 15172 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172
PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
January 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 1 | Pages: 15091–15218 Date of Publicaton: 26 January 2020 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2020.12.1.15091-15218
Artcle Short Communicatons
A citzen science approach to monitoring of the Lion Descripton of a new species of the genus Lampropsephus Panthera leo (Carnivora: Felidae) populaton in Niokolo-Koba Fleutaux, 1928 (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Elaterinae: Dicrepidiini) Natonal Park, Senegal from Konkan, Maharashtra, India – Dimitri Dagorne, Abdoulaye Kanté & John B. Rose, Pp. 15091– – Amol Patwardhan & Rahul Khot, Pp. 15181–15185 15105 Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the vicinity of Araabath Lake, Chennai, India Communicatons – John T.D. Caleb, Pp. 15186–15193
Status, distributon, threats, and conservaton of the Two new records of gilled mushrooms of the genus Amanita Ganges River Dolphin Platanista gangetca (Mammalia: (Agaricales: Amanitaceae) from India Artodactyla: Cetacea) in Nepal – R.K. Verma, V. Pandro & G.R. Rao, Pp. 15194–15200 – Deep Narayan Shah, Amit Poudyal, Gopal Sharma, Sarah Levine, Naresh Subedi & Maheshwar Dhakal, Pp. 15106–15113 Notes Bat (Mammalia: Chiroptera) diversity, dominance, and richness in the southwestern region of Bhutan with three new records for the A frst record of ovipositon of Common Onyx Horaga onyx country Moore, 1857 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Sri Lanka and – Sangay Tshering, Dhan Bahadur Gurung, Karma Sherub, Sumit its importance in conserving a highly threatened buterfy Dookia, Kuenzang Dorji & Pema Choephyel, Pp. 15114–15128 – Chathura Udayanga Herath, Pavan Bopitya Gamage, Iroshan Rupasinghe & Moditha Hiranya Kodikara Arachchi, Pp. 15201– The patern of waterbird diversity of the trans-Himalayan 15204 wetlands in Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, Ladakh, India – Pushpinder Singh Jamwal, Shivam Shrotriya & Jigmet Takpa, Additons to known larval host plants of buterfies of the Pp. 15129–15139 Western Ghats, India – Deepak Naik & Mohammed S. Mustak, Pp. 15205–15207 Compositon, diversity and foraging guilds of avifauna in agricultural landscapes In Panipat, Haryana, India Rhynchotechum parviforum Blume (Gesneriaceae): a new – Parmesh Kumar & Sharmila Sahu, Pp. 15140–15153 record to mainland India – Momang Taram, Puranjoy Mipun & Dipankar Borah, An overview of fshes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their Pp. 15208–15211 present conservaton status – Kazi Ahsan Habib, Amit Kumer Neogi, Najmun Nahar, Jina Oh, Re-collecton of the Luminous Lantern Flower Ceropegia lucida Youn-Ho Lee & Choong-Gon Kim, Pp. 15154–15172 Wall. (Apocynaceae) from Assam, India – Debolina Dey, Manash Baruah, Nilakshee Devi & Jitendra Nath Digital image post processing techniques for taxonomic Borah, Pp. 15212–15215 publicatons with reference to insects – Nikhil Joshi, Hemant Ghate & Sameer Padhye, Pp. 15173–15180 Tetrasporidium javanicum Möbius (Chlorophyta), a rare species recorded from Arpa River in Bilaspur, Chhatsgarh, India – Rakesh Kumar Dwivedi, Pp. 15216–15218
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