Conference Paper
Biodiversity status of fishes inhabiting rivers of Kerala (S. India) with special reference to endemism, threats and conservation measures
Kurup B.M. Radhakrishnan K.V. and Manojkumar T.G.
Record Number:
4146
Year:
2004
Abstract:
The identification of 175 freshwater fishes
from 41 west flowing and 3 east flowing river
systems of Kerala were confirmed. These can be
grouped under 106 ornamental and 67 food fishes.
The biodiversity status of these fishes was
assessed according to IUCN criteria. The results
showed that populations of the majority of fish
species showed drastic reduction over the past
five decades. Thirty-three fish species were
found to be endemic to the rivers of Kerala. The
distributions of the species were found to vary
within and between the river systems and some
of the species exhibited a high degree of habitat
specificity. The diversity and abundance of the
species generally showed an inverse relationship
with altitude. The serious threats faced by the
freshwater fishes of Kerala are mostly in the
form of human interventions and habitat alterations
and conservation plans for the protection
and preservation of the unique and rare fish biodiversity
of Kerala are also highlighted.
Times Cited:
6
Conference Name:
Proceedings of LARS2. 2nd Large Rivers Symposium
Relevent Species:
Horaglanis krishnai Menon 1950Horaglanis alikunhii Subhash Babu and Nayar 2004Horaglanis abdulkalami Subhash Babu 2012Rakthamichthys indicus (Eapen 1963) Britz, Dahanukar, Standing, Philip, Kumar, and Raghavan 2020Rakthamichthys roseni (Bailey and Gans 1998) Britz, Dahanukar, Standing, Philip, Kumar and Raghavan 2020Rakthamichthys digressus (Gopi 2002) Britz, Dahanukar, Standing, Philip, Kumar and Raghavan 2020