Abstract
Ornamental fishes are the most popular pet throughout the world and high demand for these fishes has made them an important component of the world fish trade. India contributes a very meager percentage to the world ornamental fish trade; but considering the high ichthyofaunal diversity it has the potential to compete with the world’s leading ornamental fish producers in the near future. Sundarban Biosphere Reserve has abundant waterbodies with rich fish diversity. Although some research has been carried out on ichthyofaunal resources of the Sundarban; detailed documentation on freshwater indigenous ornamental ichthyofaunal resources of this region is still not available. To fill this knowledge gap, the present study has been conducted to list the indigenous ornamental ichthyofaunal resources of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve along with their conservation status and their prospective utilization for improved livelihood of local communities. Eighty four species belonging to 11 orders, 28 families and 59 genera were collected from the study area with species representing the order Cypriniformes dominating the ichthyofauna. Nine species have been listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Indigenous fish species of the Sundarban having great potential to support domestic as well as the international ornamental fish trade from India in near future. The ornamental fish species would also be able to generate alternate livelihood options for the impecunious communities of the Sundarban. However, serious concern must also be paid to the conservation of these fish species as some of them are under near threatened categories of IUCN Red list.
Highlights
Ornamental fishes are attractive and colorful species which can be kept as pets in confined spaces like aquarium or garden pool with the purpose of enjoying their beauty (Mukherjee et al 2000)
Some authors suggest indigenous ornamental fish to be an important contributor to local economies if their habitats and populations are properly managed (Tlusty et al 2008) while others are with the view that unmanaged collection from the wild will reduce the sustainability of the trade and lead to population declines of important species (Moreau & Coomes 2007; Rowley et al 2008)
Study Area A detailed survey of the fish diversity was done for two consecutive years from January, 2011 to December, 2012 in 10 contrasting sampling sites distributed over 10 community development blocks within the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve
Summary
Ornamental fishes are attractive and colorful species which can be kept as pets in confined spaces like aquarium or garden pool with the purpose of enjoying their beauty (Mukherjee et al 2000). Among the different states of India, West Bengal holds the high diversity of fish resources (Sanyal et al 2012) of which there are some indigenous varieties which could be gainfully utilized as ornamental fishes due to their attractive color, shape, behavior etc. The popularity of these fish varieties as aquarium species both in domestic as well as in the international markets has already been documented (Gupta & Banerjee 2008, 2012a,b, 2014). To fill this knowledge gap, the present study was carried out to document the indigenous ornamental ichthyofaunal resources from different freshwater zones of Indian Sundarban, provide baseline information on their diversity as well as conservation status and suggest steps for their proper conservation and management plans
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