Cross-examination on taxonomic status, economic importance, geographical distribution, present status and prevailing threats of Fish varieties, Himalayan and Indo Burma biodiversity hotspots zones of North East India

Abstract

The paper lists 422 fish species from north east India, belonging to 133 genera and 38 families. The 
maximum diversity is observed in the family Cyprinidae, which is represented by 154 species. Families 
Anguillidae, Engraulidae, Chacidae, Aplocheilidae, Syngnathidae, Sciaenidae, Osphronemidae, 
Ophichthidae, Pristigastiridae and Tetraodontidae are represented by a single species each. The 
habitat, economic importance, distribution (within Northeast India) and threat criteria are listed. The 
names of the species are corrected after following the new nomenclature. The list includes plain, 
torrential and estuarine, as well as exotic species. The species are listed from findings of the 
documented references that have been known till December, 2011. The threats criteria have been 
finalised from the IUCN & NBFGR reports and physical verification of the habitat, in different seasons 
and the existing natural and anthropogenic hazards that prevail. It has been found that the fish diversity 
of these hotspots faces serious threats which would lead to a catastrophic loss of our biodiversity. 
Further, this survey shows that the north eastern region of India contains more than 62.81% of total 
freshwater fish available in the country, as against the 667 freshwater species reported. The findings 
provide 48 endangered, 69 near threatened, 103 vulnerable, 153 least concerned, 23 data deficient and 
26 not evaluated species from the list. The different natural and anthropogenic threats are evaluated. 
The impact of the different threats and the present conservation status of the fish fauna from the north 
eastern region of India raises several questions regarding their sustainance as well as the need for a 
future environmental impact analysis.