Abstract
Abstract. The Western Ghats of India is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight “hotspots” of biological diversity in the world. It is also referred to as the “Great Escarpment of India”. This paper provides information on the diversity of freshwater fish fauna of six river systems of the southern Western Ghats. The study area has been identified geographically using a GPS, and the respective topographic map has been digitized using ArcGIS software. The fish fauna were collected from various streams and rivers using cast nets, dip nets, gill nets and drag nets. Among the 31 georeferenced sites sampled from the rivers of the southern Western Ghats, a total of 64 species, belonging to 6 orders, 14 families and 31 genera, were recorded. Among them, the order Cypriniformes was dominant, with 3 families, 18 genera and 49 species (76.6 %). Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed to express the contribution of the variables and their influence on the species diversity. Interestingly, of the 31 sites, Thunakadavu stream, Gulithuraipatti, Athirapally, Naduthotam, Nadathittu, Mullaithodu, Thonanthikla, Noolpuzha and Sinnaru exhibited high variation in species diversity. Nearly 15 species were found to be threatened in the Western Ghats. Garra periyarensis and Cirrhinus cirrhosus are known to be vulnerable and Hemibagrus punctatus is critically endangered because of various anthropogenic activities. The study clearly indicates that certain timely measures have to be taken immediately to protect the fish fauna in the southern Western Ghats (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.882214).
Highlights
The Western Ghats of India is a UNESCO World HeritageSite and is one of the eight “hotspots” of biological diversity in the world
The range of the Western Ghats runs from north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea (Fig. 1, Bhavani river system)
A major part of the faunal diversity of the Western Ghats is threatened by human activities and invasive species (Dahanukar et al, 2004)
Summary
Site and is one of the eight “hotspots” of biological diversity in the world. It is known as the “Great Escarpment of. The Western Ghats of India has rich freshwater fish fauna with a high level of endemism Further investigations on the freshwater fish fauna of India, especially in the Western Ghats, were initiated by Hora (1921, 1937, 1941, 1949). Studies on the endemic fish fauna from various streams and rivers in the Western Ghats mountain range have been compiled. Reported a new fish species, Neolissochilus wynaadensis, from the Karnataka part of the Western Ghats. Arunachalam et al (2007) reported Psilorhynchus amplicephalus, a new species from Balishwar River, Assam, India. Considering the above facts, the present work documents freshwater fish fauna of the southern Western Ghats, especially from the Bhavani river system, Moyar river system, Chalakudy river system, Periyar river system, Cauvery river system and Nugu river system
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