Fish diversity and its conservation in major wetlands of Mysore.

ABSTRACT

The paper highlights the fish diversity in major wetlands of Mysore district, Karnataka, India and its conservation status. Forty-five species of fishes belonging to 15 families, 31 genera have been identified. Fish species belonging to genus Puntius were more common in many of these lakes. However, it was observed that the fish diversity was decreasing since last two years unprecedently, mainly due to manifold human activities. Fish diversity in the lakes is becoming rare and about seven species were identified as endangered. Out of the 45 identified fishes, six fish species were identified as threatened species. Tor khudree, also known as Deccan mahseer and seven other species were identified as vulnerable fish species. Though there were 40 species of fish endemic to this region, their number decreased with introduction of more exotic species. Conservation of endemic fishes, propagation of endangered and threatened fishes should be therefore, undertaken to preserve and protect fish diversity in the wetlands of Mysore district.