Assessment of Himalayan fish in progress; about 100 species covered

IMPHAL — More than 50 freshwater fish experts from Northeast India, Bhutan and Germany have started their final assessment of about 500 varieties of Himalayan fish to categorise the species following the IUCN Red List categories and criteria at the global scale.

So far, assessment of around 100 Himalayan fish, including Danionella Priapus (India’s smallest fish) has been completed, according to an expert who is part of the expert team.

The fish experts are mostly from Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland, as well as Bhutan and Germany.

“The current assessment will cover 217 freshwater species at the regional scale, and

571 fishes at the global scale, including a diverse array of species from India’s smallest fish, Danionella priapus to the giant goonch, Bagarius bagarius,” stated a press release.

Giant goonch is a large fish measuring up to 6.6 ft. India’s smallest fish while Danionella Priapus is roughly the size of a standard paperclip.

The assessment covers species distributed in a range of habitats from lakes, bheels, reservoirs, floodplain-wetlands and other small micro-habitats, and from the waters of lowest to highest altitudes of the Himalayan Mountain ranges, it said.

Stating that the Eastern and Western Himalayan areas of India have extremely diverse freshwater ecosystems, with economic and livelihood significance, it however added that conservation of this exceptional fish diversity is challenging in the wake of increasing anthropogenic pressures, as well as climate change-induced stress.

 Director Dr Pramod Kumar Pandey of ICAR-DCFR, Bhimtal, Manipur University’s Zoology department head Prof Th Binoy Singh, Director (College Development Council) Prof N Mohilal Meitei,  Dr Ralf Britz of Senckenberg Museum, Dresden, Germany, a global authority on freshwater fishes besides Dr Rajeev Raghavan, South Asia Chair(IUCN-FFSG) were present during the opening assessment.