JoTT NOTE 2(12): 1330-1333 Western Ghats Special Series 1999). NARF is an Important Bird Area (IBA) (Bird Life International 2009) and also harbours threatened and endemic mammals such as the A checklist of freshwater fishes of the Nilgiri Tahr (Abraham et al. 2006). New Amarambalam Reserve Forest NARF is drained by the river Chaliyar and its (NARF), Kerala, India tributaries, Karimpuzha, Panapuzha, Manjakallanpuzha, Talipuzha and the Arikkayampuzha, forming a wide array of riverine microhabitats from cascades to riffles and Fibin Baby1, Josin Tharian1,2, Anvar Ali1 & pools. Although there have been limited studies on the Rajeev Raghavan1, 3 fish fauna of Chaliyar (Lalmohan & Devi 2000) and the 1 Conservation Research Group (CRG), St. Albert’s College, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (Easa & Basha 1995; Easa & Cochin, Kerala 682018, India Shaji 1997), there is no information on the freshwater fish 2 Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences, St. diversity of the NARF. As part of a larger project that is John’s College, Anchal, Kerala 691306, India aimed at generating baseline data on the fish fauna of 3 Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, United Kingdom lesser known areas in the Kerala part of Western Ghats Email: 3 [email protected] (corresponding author) (CEPF-ATREE 2010), we carried out a survey of the fish species diversity in the NARF during April-May 2010. This contribution provides a checklist of the freshwater The New Amarambalam Reserve Forest (NARF) fish fauna of the NARF with notes on their threats and (11014’-11024’N & 76019’-76033’E) covering an area of conservation needs. 265km2 borders the Silent Valley National Park (Kerala We used a rapid assessment approach (Abd et al. State) and the Mukurthi National Park (Tamil Nadu State), 2009) as it was the most practical approach in terms of and forms the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve costs and logistics. Dawn (0500-0800 hr), dusk (1730- - an international biosphere reserve in the Western 1930 hr), daytime (0800-1730 hr) and night (1930-0500 Ghats hotspot. NARF contains relatively unexploited hr) sampling were carried out at fixed sites in the various natural evergreen and semi evergreen forests (Mathew tributaries draining the NARF including Karimpuzha & Binoy 2002), as well as natural moist deciduous forest, (at Nedumkayam and Maanchery), Paanapuzha, teak and multi-species plantations (Kumar & Yoganand Manjakkalanpuzha and Talipuzha (Fig. 1). Although electrofishing (using a backpack electroshocker) was the primary technique used for fish collection, we also Date of publication (online): 26 November 2010 employed a diverse array of active as well as passive gears Date of publication (print): 26 November 2010 including cast net, scoop net, drag net, gill net and traps. ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print) This was mainly because of the fact that electrofishing is Editor: K. Rema Devi considered to be the most effective sampling method for Manuscript details: stream fishes, especially when sampling species at risk Ms # o2497 (Poos et al. 2007). The other gears were used so as to avoid Received 30 June 2010 sampling bias in specific habitats (for example - torrential Final received 07 November 2010 Finally accepted 09 November 2010 stream reaches and cascades) where electrofishing was not possible. The use of an electroshocker also meant Citation: Baby, F., J. Tharian, A. Ali & R. Raghavan (2010). A checklist of freshwater fishes of the New Amarambalam Reserve Forest (NARF), that we only collected minimum number of specimens Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(12): 1330-1333. as required for our study (especially threatened and Copyright: © Fibin Baby, Josin Tharian, Anvar Ali & Rajeev Raghavan restricted range endemics) and others were let off into 2010. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows the waters. Species level identification was carried out unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, following Jayaram (1999) and Talwar & Jhingaran (1991) reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication. and species names adhere to the CAS - Catalog of Fishes Acknowledgements: Funding for the study came from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) Western Ghats Program through the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), This article forms part of a special series on the Western Ghats of India, Bengaluru, India. The authors thank K.K. Srivastava IFS (Chief Wildllife disseminating the results of work supported by the Critical Ecosystem Warden, Government of Kerala) for permits, and Unnikrishnan (DFO- Partnership Fund (CEPF), a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Nilambur) and V.P. Jayaprakash (Range Office-Karulai, Nilambur) for Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment logistics in the field. The unstinted cooperation and support of Simmy Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the Solmon, Shylaja Menon and Ratheesh, Conservation Research Group, World Bank. A fundamental goal of CEPF is to ensure civil society is St. Albert’s College, Kochi is gratefully acknowledged. engaged in biodiversity conservation. Implementation of the CEPF investment program in the Western Ghats is led and coordinated by the OPEN ACCESS | FREE DOWNLOAD Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). 1330 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | November 2010 | 2(112): 1330-1333 Fishes of the New Amarambalam Reserve Forest F. Baby et al. Figure 1. Map of New Amarambalam Reserve Forest (NARF) showing sampling sites 1 - Nedumkayam (Karimpuzha) (11.291N & 76.338E; 45m) 2 - Maanchery (Karimpuzha) (11.305N & 76.419E; 201m) 3 - Panapuzha (11.309N & 76.456E; 390m) 4 - Manjakkalanpuzha (11.316N & 76.472E; 585m) 5 - Talipuzha (11.341N and 76.451E; 556m) (Eschmeyer 2010). The fish diversity in NARF is high compared to various We collected 43 species of freshwater fish belonging protected areas in the Nilgiri landscape such as Wyanad to 13 families and 28 genera (Table 1) from various Wildlife Sanctuary (S = 34) and Silent Valley National tributaries of Chaliyar River, draining the NARF. Family Park (S = 19) in Kerala (Biju 2005) and the Mudumalai Cyprinidae dominated with 20 species followed by Wildlife Sanctuary (S = 38) in Tamil Nadu (Manimekalan Balitoridae and Bagridae (four species each). Of the 43 1998). NARF harbours higher freshwater fish species species collected, 20 species (46.51%) were endemic to diversity than in protected areas of northern Kerala (north the Western Ghats hotspot with one species (Laubuca of Palakkad gap). The number of species recorded in our fasciata) strictly endemic to the Kerala region. current study (S = 43) is higher than those recorded from Among the various tributaries of Chalakudy draining Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kannur (S = 38), which was the NARF, Karimpuzha had the highest species diversity till date considered to be the protected area in northern (S = 39) followed by Talipuzha (S = 25) and Panapuzha Kerala with the highest fish species diversity (Biju 2005). (S = 19). Two locations in the Karimpuzha tributary, The streams inside NARF especially the Karimpuzha Nedumkayam and Maanchery have been previously tributary needs to be designated as a priority area for explored for their fish diversity (Easa & Basha 1995). freshwater fish conservation. Maanchery (and the nearby During their survey, Easa & Basha (1995) collected Mayiladipotty (11.304N & 76.423E; 203m)), located in the nine species from Nedumkayam area, whereas in the Karimpuzha tributary need to be selected for long term present study we could collect 29 species - an addition protection and monitoring of fish diversity, as it harbours of 20 species. Two species recorded by Easa and good population of two very important endemic species, Basha (1995) could not be collected by us in the course Tor malabaricus and Glyptothorax annandalei. The of the present survey. These were Channa orientalis, absence of human habitation along the banks of this (which is a misidentification as this species is endemic tributary except for settlements of the Cholanaicker and to Sri Lanka) and Schismatogobius deraniyagalai. We Kaatunaicker tribes means that there is no organized collected 26 species from Maanchery, an addition of 11 and large scale exploitation of these fishes. However, species compared to the records of Easa & Basha (1995) the fishing techniques used by these tribes are mainly from the same locality. Deccan Mahseer Tor khudree destructive in nature and causes large scale mortality to recorded by Easa & Basha (1995) could not be collected the entire aquatic fauna present in the vicinity including by us; we believe that the Mahseer species recorded by fish, molluscs, crustaceans and insects. The most them was in fact Tor malabaricus and not T. khudree, common destructive fishing techniques practices by the as the identities of both these species were unclear, tribes include poisoning using leaves, barks and fruits and only very recently confirmed (Silas et al. 2005). As of several trees such as Acacia torta, Randia brandisii there is no previous information on the fish diversity of and Zyzigium caryophyllaeum. There are also reports of the remaining tributaries of Chaliyar inside the NARF fishing using dynamite by non-tribal communities residing including Paanapuzha, Manjakkalanpuzha and Talipuzha, along the