FISH AND SHELLFISH DIVERSITY AND ITS SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT IN CHILIKA LAKE V. R. Suresh, S. K. Mohanty, R. K. Manna, K. S. Bhatta M. Mukherjee, S. K. Karna, A. P. Sharma, B. K. Das A. K. Pattnaik, Susanta Nanda & S. Lenka 2018 ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute Barrackpore, Kolkata - 700 120 (India) & Chilika Development Authority C- 11, BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar- 751 014 (India) FISH AND SHELLFISH DIVERSITY AND ITS SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT IN CHILIKA LAKE V. R. Suresh, S. K. Mohanty, R. K. Manna, K. S. Bhatta, M. Mukherjee, S. K. Karna, A. P. Sharma, B. K. Das, A. K. Pattnaik, Susanta Nanda & S. Lenka Photo editing: Sujit Choudhury and Manavendra Roy ISBN: 978-81-938914-0-7 Citation: Suresh, et al. 2018. Fish and shellfish diversity and its sustainable management in Chilika lake, ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata and Chilika Development Authority, Bhubaneswar. 376p. Copyright: © 2018. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Barrackpore, Kolkata and Chilika Development Authority, C-11, BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holders. Photo credits: Sujit Choudhury, Manavendra Roy, S. K. Mohanty, R. K. Manna, V. R. Suresh, S. K. Karna, M. Mukherjee and Abdul Rasid Published by: Chief Executive Chilika Development Authority C-11, BJB Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751 014 (Odisha) Cover design by: S. K. Mohanty Designed and printed by: S J Technotrade Pvt. Ltd. , Bhubaneswar, Odisha Disclaimer: The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this document are the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore and Chilika Development Authority, Bhubaneswar. FOREWORD Chilika Lake, a highly sensitive coastal ecosystem and a designated Ramsar site along the east coast of India, is the largest brackishwater lagoon in Asia and the second largest in the world. Known to be highly productive ecosystem, the Lake has been supporting diverse fish species, besides rich fishery. The hydrological changes took place due to gradual closure of the sea-mouth of the Lake turned it towards a freshwater ecosystem and as a consequence it influenced fisheries of major brackishwater and marine fish species. This had severe impact on migration of several valuable fish species that frequented the Lake for breeding and feeding. Restoration measures like opening of a new sea-mouth during the year 2000 have rejuvenated the ecosystem, resulting in measurable improvement in the fish diversity and catch. Although study of fish diversity of the Lake has long been of great interest to researchers and substantial amount of literature on this aspect exist on the subject, bringing out a comprehensive document on the updated list of fish and shellfish species, including a number of new records, by the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute through the project ‘Post restoration assessment of ecology and fisheries diversity of Chilika lake’ funded by the Chilika Development Authority, Odisha, is a good initiative. The book contains elaborate taxonomical accounts, habitat information, distribution, conservation status, fisheries and economic importance of fish and shellfish species of the Lake. I am sure the information provided in this book will be of immense help to those involved in studies on fish diversity, besides to the students, researchers and those interested in fisheries. I congratulate the authors and the project team for bringing out this document. (J. K. Jena) Chilika Development Authority I PREFACE Chilka is a coastal lake situated along the east cost of India, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha; between latitude 19° 28' and 19° 54' N and longitude 85° 05' and 85° 38' E. The lake has distinct marine, brackish and freshwater zones due to seawater ingress through the sea-mouth and freshwater brought in by rivers and surface run off. This zonation has resulted in diverse flora and fauna adapted to such situations, especially fin fishes and shell fishes. In the aftermath of the gradual closure of the sea-mouth of the Chilika, towards the 1990s, the lake had turned in to more of a freshwater ecosystem, resulting in substantial change in species composition, with significant enhancement in freshwater forms. Restoration measures like opening of a new mouth, rehabilitation of link canals during the year 2000, has rejuvenated the ecosystem with significant improvement in the fish diversity and catch, which is attributed to restoration of original salinity gradients, augmentation of auto recruitment, besides facilitation of free migration of fishes, prawns and crabs from the sea into the lake and vise-á-versa. It is expected that the fish diversity of the dynamic lake ecosystem might have undergone changes, since the restoration, which needed to be documented. To study the ecology and fisheries diversity of the Chilika Lake, the Chilika Development Authority, Odisha, through the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project funded by World Bank, invited competitive bids for conducting long term studies on the lake ecosystem. The ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore won the bid and signed an agreement with the Chilika Development Authority, on 21st October 2011, to study the lake through a project titled ‘Post restoration assessment of ecology and fisheries diversity of Chilika Lake’. As part of the deliverables under the contract agreement, preparation of a book, documenting the fin fish and shell fish diversity of the lake has been agreed upon. In compliance to that, this book has been prepared jointly by ICAR-CIFRI and Chilika Development Authority (CDA). This book embodies a brief introduction, followed by revised checklist of fin fishes and shell fishes of the lake, which has been updated till date by eliminating miss identifications, following internationally accepted nomenclature (As updated in www.fishbase.org by May, 2018). Information on systematic accounts, diagnostic features, habitat, distribution, conservation status, fisheries, economic importance, utilization, information with reference to Chilika Lake etc. of 225 important finfish species out of total inventory of 286 species and 11 shellfish species including 8 prawn and 3 crab species out of total inventory of 34 species (14 crabs, 18 prawns and 2 lobsters) recorded by the project team during the project period and CDA during the post-restoration period, including new records to the lake, are included, besides species index and related references. The remaining 60 finfish species and 23 shellfish species from the inventory list which do not contribute significantly to the commercial landing and do not have ornamental value are furnished in Table 4 & 5. Although a wealth of information is available on the lake fisheries, an updated compendium of fish and shell fish diversity has been in great demand. The book has been prepared in easy-to-read manner, supported by images (monograph of fish and shellfish species). For the first time the fish biodiversity assessment in Chilika has been presented alongwith the suggested measures for sustainable management of fish and shellfish diversity. The contents are based on extensive field studies and mining of available literature in the public domain. We hope the book will be highly useful for researchers, fisheries / wetland managers, teachers, students and common man, besides adding value to the information on Chilika lake ecosystem. Authors II ICAR- Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support from World Bank through the State Project Management Unit (SPMU) of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) of Odisha (Cr. No. 4765 – IN) to ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, West Bengal for the project ‘Post restoration assessment of the ecology and fisheries diversity of Chilika Lake’. Dr. B. C. Jha, former Head of Division; Dr. Debabrata Panda, Mr. Roshith, C. M., Scientists, Dr. M. K. Mukhopadhaya, former Scientist of ICAR-CIFRI have helped at different stages of preparation of the book. The technical and field support received from Mr. Y. Ali, Mr. S. Mandal, Mr. A. Raichoudhury technical officers CIFRI; Dr. Surajit Banik, Mr. Sanjib Kumar Pradhan, Mr. Apurba Raut, Project Staff, is deeply acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the help received from the Staff of Wetland Research and Training Center of CDA, Barkul (Balugaon) and unstinted help of Sri Ganesh Behera, Data Entry Operator of CDA, Bhubaneswar in computerizing the document to bring to its final form. - Authors Chilika Development Authority III ABBREVIATIONS A : Anal fin C : Caudal fin CAMP : Conservation Assessment and Management Plan CDA : Chilika Development Authority CIFRI : Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute CR : Critically Endangered D : Dorsal fin DD : Data Deficient EN : Endangered ICAR : Indian Council of Agricultur Research ICZMP : Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project INR : Indian Rupees IUCN : International Union for Conservation of Nature LC : Least Concern Ll : Lateral line Ls : Lateral line scale N/n : Number NBFGR : National Bureau of Fish Genetic