A SURVEY OF THE FISHERIES OF THE * BY P. I. CHACKO, M.A., F.Z.S., AND G. K. KURXYAN, M.Sc., F.Z.S. (Madras Government Fisheries) Received March 22, 1948 (Communicated by Prof. Beni Charan Mahendra, D.SC.,V.Z.S., r.A.SC.) CONTENTS PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 166' 2. FlSmNG METHODS .... 167 3. LIST Of: FISHES COLLEGTED .. 172 4. NOTrS ON BIONOMICS .... 172 5. SEED COLLECTION WORK .... 173 6. ACKNOWLEOGMENTS .... 175 7. SUMMARY ...... 175 8. BIaLIOGRAPHY ...... 17 5 1. INTRODUCTION THE present paper deals with the fluvial fishes of the section of the Tunga- which borders the Madras Presidency, and is based on a survey conducted by the authors from October 1943 to December 1947. The Tungabhadra River (Fig. 1) enters the Madras Presidency from the . After forming the boundary of the along the whole length of its western and northern sides, it empties into the Kistna a few miles south of town. The total length of the river in the Presidency is about 300 miles. The districts of Bellary and Kurnool drain by the Tungabhadra and its three main tributaries, the Chinna Hagari, the Hagari and the Hindri. The river runs through a barren tract, 940 to 1,739 feet above mean sea-level, bounded by high banks in the Madras Presidency. Navigation is difficult, as the bed is for the most part rocky. Coracles of hide or steel are the sole means of communication. Floods occur from tne end of June to the end of November, when the flow of water is terrific, with a maximum discharge of about 20,800 cubic feet per second. The water is turbid and highly silt-laden. No fishery worth the name is harvested ouring the flood

* Published with the kind permissionof the Director of Industries and Commerce,Madras, The paper was taken as read before the Zoology Section at the 34th Indian Science Congress, Delhi, 1947. 166 A Survey of tAe Fisheries of the Tungakhadru River 167

y)"

Fxo. 1. The River Tungabhadra showing the Twenty Fish-breeding and Nursery Areas, located by the authors. Scale 1 inch : 30 miles. 1. Hampasagaram. 8. Halekote. 15. Nidusuru. 2. Bommasamudram. 9. Tumbiganuru. 16. KaUur. 3. Vallabhapuram. 10. Rampuram. 17. Jolapuram. 4. Mallapuram. 11. Singavaram. 18. Podar. 5. . 12. Kottamotta. 19. AUuru. 6. . 13. Sunkesula. 20. Sang'am. 7. Desanuru. 14. Devanmadugu. Season, but early in December when the floods subside and the water beco6aes clear, fishing commences. During the summer months, from March ,to June, the river practically dries up, leaving certain deep pools, 15 to 30 feet in depth, connected by a sluggish stream. These afford shelter to fishes, and consequently the fisherfolk reap a good summer harvest of large-si~ed fishes from them. There are fourteen small anicuts across the river, the most important being the one at Sunkesula, which diverts water into the Kurnool-Cuddappah canal for irrigation purposes.

2. FISHING METHODS There are twenty-one fishing villages along the river bank, with an average population of 200 in each. The fishing methods are primitice. The common craft used for ferrying is the leather covered basket boat (coracle). The important types Of fishing tackles used in the river are c/~st n~ts, drag nets, stake nets, long lines, rod and line, and nooses. The mesh-size of the nets ranges from 1/8 to 3 inches. The small-meshea nets and the nooses are fixed across rapids among boulders to capture minnows and bottom feeders, such as, Discognathus lamta ana Glyptothorax lonah, which are capable of 132 168 P. I. Chacko and G. K. Kuriyan

~g~~ ~ 9 :~ :: : .-~ ~

o

,~ 0 ~ .e ~ ~ ~ ~ e ~ ~ ~e e ~ ~ e~

~~~~~~ .~m~

,,S

.~ 0

o- ~,~.~ ~o, 3 o ~- -o o o o o ~o .o- ~..,'~'~ .~'6 ..o 0 a~O ~ ~.CO~O~ ~ ~1 ~ "" ~ ~1 I~ e'-~ ~

o~

~N~ N N N m ~N ~ ~

7, A Survey of tke Fiskeries o~ the Tun#abhadra River 169

t~ : o .= ..~ : : : : 0 0 0 "0 "0 "r. 9~. "~ "~- ~ ~ "~ "~ -~ .~.

d~d ~ d~d ~ d ~ d d~ ~d~ ~d

0 o 8

9"~ 0 ~ o~_~-~_'~ o .-~ o ~ ~, .o~o~=~ ~ o o ~"~ o 0 ~1 ~ ~

~'~ ~o~ o~ ~o o=~

% 170 P.I. Chacko and G. K. Kuriyan

"~. :~:~ : -~ ~ .~ ~-.~

o o

"~ ~ ~ ~ ~ m~ c~ ~'~ ~ ~ ~ La ~ ~ ~ ~ "0~J ~~" ~~" ~^ ~ ~0 ~ ~00~"00~ ~ ~ ~ m 0

o~ o~ ~o ~ ~.~o ~ ~ o~ o o~.~ ,~.~ A Survey o~ the Fisheries of the Tungakhadra River 171

A =~:: o~ ~. o ~o .~o ~

~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~176

d ~dd ~d d dd dd d~ S d~dd dd~ ~

9 . . . . 9 .~ 9

.~

~

o

.~0 0 0 ~J..O ~ 9 "~- o o o o

~ ~ i ~'~~ .~

d

0

~J d

~ 'r. !. 172 P.I. Chacko and G. K. Kuriyan

attaching themselves to rocks and stones by means of suckers and other adhesive organs. The methods of fishing employed here are very similar to those in the Kangra Valley described by Hora (1926). Young ones of the major food fishes are also captured with these implements. Due to the destructive methods of fishing, the fishery has considerably dwindled resulting in a poor annual harvest of about 50,000 maunds in the entire river stretch. About 69 per cent. of the catch is marketed in the Hyderabad State. 3. LIST OF FISHES COLLECTED A list of 89 fishes collected from the Tungabhadi'a, including those recorded by Hora (1937), Bhimachar and Rau (1941), Bhimachar (1942) and Rahimullah (1943), is given above. 4. NOIES ON BIONOMICS The majority of the fishes breed when the river is in floods; it is then that they show limited local migration in search of favourable breeding grounds. Spawning of Catla cat[a and Labeo )qmbriatus were observed along the river margin near Kottamotta, Devanmadugu and KalIur in July 1945, August 1946 and September 1947. The spawning grounes are shallow marginal areas, two to four feet deep, with submerged and emergent vegeta- tion such as Colocasia antiquontrn, Cyperus distans, C. exaltus, Herpestis monnieria, s roxburghii, Nipa fruticans, Panicum muticum, Polygonum tomentosum, Typha elephantma and Vallisneria spiralis. The fishery of Labeo fimbriatus among the carps, is the most important. This species frequents the deep pools in the course of the river. An analysis of its stomach-contents revealed the following organisms: Desmids" and diatoms.--Closterium, Cocconeis, Cy~latella, Cymbella, Desrnidium, Eunotia, Fragilaria, Gomphonema, Pinnularia, Stauroneis, Suriella, Synedra and Tabellaria; Algce.--Ankistrodesmus, Aphanocapsa, Spirogyra and Ulothrix; Protozoa.--Eudorina, Pandorina, Volvox and Vorticella; Rotifera.--Hydatina and Rotifer; Crustacea.--Cypridopsis, Daphnia, Diaptomus aria Nauplius; and Insecta.--Nepa and Notonecta. The fry of this species could be distinguished by the ventrally situated mouth which bears folded lips and strainers, a black shoulder-spot and a grey circular patch on the caudal peduncle. The food of the fry is similar to that of the adult, but lacks crustacean and insect remains. It was found that the shoulder spot and the caudal spot disappear when the fry attain a length of two and three inches respectively. A Survey of the Fisheries of the Tungdbhadra River 173 The larger-sized carps whose fry and fingerlings are common in the river from August to December are Labeo fimbriatus, L. calbasu, Barbus tor, Cirrhina reba, C. fulungee, Thynniet~thys sandkhol ~nd Osteochihts thomassi. The occurrence of the last species in this area has been regarded as an evi- dence of Malayan affinities in the fresh-water fauna of Peninsular (Hora, 1942 and 1944; and Bhimachar, 1945). In the Tungabhadra river, Osteoehihts thomassi attains a size of 24 inches, frequenting the deep pools in the course of the river. It is a plank.ton-feeder (Chacko, Venkatraman and Kuriyan, 1947); and its food consists of Closterium, Cosmarium, Fragilaria, Gomphonema, Melosira, Navicula, _Nitzschia, Pinnularia, Stauroneis, Synedra and Suriella. Copepods and their eggs as ~ell as fine sand particles were also observed in tl'.e stomach of a few specimens. The fish attains maturity when it is 10 to 12 inches in length. The mature egg is 1-14 to 1.17 ram. in diameter; The breeding season extends from June to September, when the breeders move up the river in small shoals of abont fifty in search of shady gravelly banks with a strong current of water. Experiments conducted have proved that this fish is well suited for pond culture and that it attains a size of 9 to 12 inches in the first year of its life. The large cat-fishes, Mystus aor, M. seenghala and Bagarius bagarius thrive well in this river. Their maximum sizes as observed by us are 40, 48 and 85 inches respectively. The specimen of Bagarius bagarius was 310 pounds in weight and had to be carried by four men to the nearest market, where it was filletted and sold for Rs. 75. Mystus aor and M. seenghala have been observed breeding in the months of September to December in the river above Sunkesula Anicut. Our observations on their breeding habits confirm those of Raj (1940) in the Cauvery river. These fish make circular depressions amidst small rocks with their pectoral, ventral and anal fins and the lower caudal lobe; and the male guards the brood. The breeding of the large murrel, Ophicephalus marulius, in the Tunga- bhadra near Hampasagaram, Vallabhapuram, Hampi, Rampuram and Podur from October to December, confirm the observations on this species (Chacko and Kuriyan, 1947) in the Cauvery river. Cup-like clearings with broods were discovered along the sheltered woody margin of the river, as in the case of Ophicephalus striatus (Wildey, 1910; Raj, 1916; Khan, 1924 and 1926; Bhattacharya, 1946) and Ophicephah~s punctatus (Raj, 1916; Khan, 1924; Narayan Rao and Seshachar, 1927). 5. SEED COLLECTION We have located twenty breeding and nursery areas sip,ce 1943 which are now being systematically exploited for stocking departmental farms 174 P.I. Chacko and G. K. Kuriyan

and provincial waters in the Ceded Districts of Madras Province (Fig. 1). These nursery areas are shallow and shady sections of the river margin, where the water is slightly brownish with a temperature of 22-28 c C. The following are the detail~ of 65,000 young Catla eatla, 140,000 of Labeo fimbriatus, 5,000 of L. ealbasu, 27,000 of Cirrhina fulunge, 22,000 of C. reba, 11,000 of Osteoehilus thomassi, 6,000 of Barbus tot, 5,000 of

Name of nursery area Species No. collected Size in cat.

Rampuram Barhus tot 1,000 6-12 Ophicephalus marulius 3,000 4.8 Singavaram Calla calla 10,000 2-6 Zabeo flmbrialus 16,000 2-8 Cirrhina fulungee 5,000 3-7 C. reba 2 000 3-6 Bar, us lot 2,000 6-12 Myslus seen~,kala 500 4-8

Kottamotta Calla calla 3,000 2-6 Zabeo iqmbriatus 20,000 2-8 L calbasu 1,000 't--6 Cirrhina fulun~ee 8,000 3-7 C. rcba 8,000 3-6 Barbus tar 3,000 6-12 Myslus seenghala 3,000 4-8

Sunkesula Calla calla 20,000 2-10 Zabeo ~mbriatus 70,000 2-10 L. calbasu 1,000 4-6 Cirrkina ;ulungee 10,000 3-7 C. reba 6,000 8-8 Osleochilus thomassi 4,000 6-10 Thynnichlkys sandkhol 2,000 8-10

Devamadugu Calla calla 7,000 2-12 Labeo ~mbriatus 10,000 2-10 L calbasu 3,000 4-6 Cirrki~ta fulungec 2,000 3-8 Osteochilus thomasi 2,000 6-10 Thynuicklhys sandkhol 2,000 8-10

Nidusuru 9 " Calla calla 4,000 2-8 Zakeo iSn$Halus 6,000 2-10

Kallur Calla calla 4,000 Zabea #mbriatus 4,000 2-8

Jolapuram Calla calla 15,000 2-8 Labeo /~mbrialus 8,0O0 2-10 Cirrhina fulungec 2,000 3-8 C. reba 6,000 3-8 Osleochilus thomassi 4,000 6-1.0 Thynnichthys sandkhol 1,O00 8-10

Podur Calla catla 2,000 2-6 Zabco I~mbrialus 6,000 2-1Q Osteockilus marulius 1,000 6-10 Ophice~kalus marulius 2,000 4--8 A Survey of the Fisheries o[ the Tungabhadra River 175 7hynnichthys sandkhol, 5,060 of Ophicephalus marulius and 3,500 of Mystus seenghala that have been so far collected by us from the river and stocked in other inla.nd waters.

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Dr. T. J. Job, D.Sc. (formerly Deputy Director of Fisheries, Madras), for his kind encouragement and constant guidance, to Janab Syed Hussain, Assistant Inspector of Fisheries, for his assistance .in the survey, and to Professor Beni Charan Mahendra for valuable sugges- tions and criticism. 7. SUMMARY A survey of the fluvial fisheries of the Tungabhadra River with special reference to the breeding and nursery areas of the major food fishes has been conducted. Sixty-seven species of fishes have been found by the authors, of which nineteen are new recorcts. Breeding and food-habits of the more important fishes have been observed.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bhattacharya, R. .. "On the Life-History of Ophicephalus striatus Bloch," Proc. 33rd Indian Sci. Cong., 1946, 3, 128-29. Bhimachar, B. S. .. "Report on a survey of the fisheries of the Mysore State," Bull. Dep. Agric., Mysore, 1942, 1, 1-39. .. "Zoogeographical Divisions of the , as evidenced by the Distribution of Hill-Stream Fishes,', Curr. Sei., 1945, 14, 12-16. and Subba Rau, A. .. "The Fishes of Mysore State," Journ. Mysore Univ. 1941, 1, 141-52. Chacko, P. 1., and Kuriyan, G. K. "Preliminary Note on the Fisheries of the Tungabhadra," Proc. 34th Indian ScL Cong., 1947, Absts. .. "Culture of Murral Fish. Ophicephalus marulius Hamilton, in irrigation wells," Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1947, 47, 392-93. , Venkataraman, R. S. .. "On the Bionomics of Osteochilus (Osteoehilichthys) and Kuriyan, G. K. thomassi," Pro. 34th Indian Sei. Cong., 1947, Absts.

Day, F. ~ The Fishes of India, London, 1, 1888.

.o The Fauna of British India, Fishes, London, 1889, I & 2.

Hora, S. L. .~ "On a Peculiar Fishing Implement From the Kangra Valley, Punjab," Proc. Ash~tic Soc. Bengal, 1926, 22, 81-84.

.~ "On a Small Collection of Fish from the Chitaldrug District, Mysore," Rec. Indian Mus., 1936, 38, 1-8.

~ "On three Collections of Fish from Mysore and Coorg, ," ibid., 1937, 39, 5-28.

.~ "On the Systematic Position of the Indian Species of Seaphiodon, Heckel," ibid., 1942, 44, 1-10. B8 176 P. I. Chacko and G. K. Kuriyan

Hora, S. L. .. "A List of F~shes of the Mysore State and ol the neighbour- ing Hill Ranges of the Nilgiris, Wynaad and Coorg," ibid., 1942, 44, 193-200. .. "On the Malayan Affinities of the Freshwater Fish Fauna of Peninsular India, and Its Bearing on lhe Probable Age of the Garo-Rajmahal Gap," Proc. Nat. Inst. Sei. India., 1944, 10, 423-39. Khan, Hamid .. "Observations on the Breeding Habits of Some Freshwater Fishes in the Punjab," Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1924, 29, 958-62. .. "Early stages in the Development of Some Freshwater Fishes in the Punjab," ibid., 1926, 30, 531--40. Narayan Rao, C. R., and .. "Notes on the Freshwater Fish of Mysore," Half-Yearly Seshaehar, B. R. .lourn. Mysore Univ., 1927, 1, 115-43. Rahimullah, M. .. "Fish Survey of Hyderabad State--Part I A," Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1943, 43, 643-53. Raj, B.S. .. "Notes on the Freshwater Fish of~ Madras," Rec. Indian Mus., 1916, 12, 249-94. .. "The Extraordinary Breeding Habits of the Cat-Fish. Aoria (Macrones) seenghala (Sykes)," Proc. 27th Indian Sci. Cong., 1940, 3, 156. Willey, A. .. "Observations on the Nests, Eggs and Larvae of Ophi- cephalus striatus," Spolia Zeylanica, 1909, 6, 108-123.

900.48. Peinted at the Ban~alore Pl.ese, Ba~i~alore Oity. by G. Smnivasa Rao, ~upe~]nt~nd#dt and Pubhahed by The Indian Academy of SeiQnees, Banga|oPs