Uttam Kumar Sarkar

• Dr
• Former Director at National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources

The present study explores the reproductive characteristics and breeding phenology of striped gourami, Trichogaster fasciata from river Gomti, a tributary of river Ganges, India in relation to eco-climatic variables. The calculated size at sexual maturity (Lm) is approximately 5.2 cm. The hydrological parameters such as temperature, pH and DO were...

The magnificent shrimp, Ancylomenes magnificus (Bruce, 1979), is a sea anemone associated marine ornamental organism exploited from Indo-Pacific waters, for the marine aquarium trade, as it has attractive coloration. However, there are no reports available yet on its population and reproductive characteristics (population structure, length–weight r...

Within the regime of tropical inland fisheries, floodplain wetlands are biologically rich and sensitive ecosystems that support unique ichthyofaunal diversity and provide substantial livelihood and nutritional security to poor small-scale fishers (SSFs) in a changing climate. To protect and enhance livelihood and nutritional security, as well as to...

Cinetorhynchus himanshui sp. n. described from Lakshadweep was collected during the exploratory surveys conducted in 2023. This is the second known species of the genus Cinetorhynchus Holthuis, 1995 from the Indian waters. The species was identified as new based on morphological and molecular analysis. The new species is closely related to C. hende...

The foodweb of the Karapuzha reservoir ecosystem was constructed using modelling software Ecopath with Ecosim. This reservoir has a high biomass of primary producers that can support a fairly large fish biomass. Ecotrophic efficiency values of zoobenthos show that these primary consumers are heavily consumed. Hence at higher trophic levels flows ar...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has revolutionized the aquatic ecology field by providing a non-invasive, empathetic method for detecting and monitoring species from any ecosystem. eDNA studies have generally involved the assumption that DNA particles are well mixed in most aquatic ecosystems and that a small volume is sufficient to represent the entire e...

Black collared yellow catfish, Horabagrus nigricollaris, an endangered endemic catfish of the River Chalakudy, Kerala, cherished by the locals is one of the most sought-after ornamental fish. Due to the limited range of distribution and rarity, H. nigricollaris needs to be conserved in situ. Captive breeding, embryonic development, nursery rearing,...

The growing international trade and global seafood consumption rate have heightened the risks of fisheries crime, economic fraud, and the endangerment of marine wildlife. In this industry, the introduction of more species into trade makes authentication and species identification challenging for consumers and even taxonomists also due to morphologi...

Bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC) libraries are valued genomic resources for preserving the genetic material of an organism. The end sequences of BAC clones can help in determining overlapping regions of clones to improve genome assembly and to select clones having genes of interest. The mapping of the ends’ sequences of BAC clones using bioin...

The present study was carried out to understand the biometric features and reproductive traits of indigenous dwarf chameleon fish Badis blosyrus (Kullander and Britz, 2002). This species, a potential candidate for ornamental fish trade, holds significant conservation and commercial value but remains relatively understudied. Altogether seventy-five...

In the present study, we recorded two morphologically abnormal wild fishes from the Gomti river, Uttar Pradesh. Deformed Puntius chola (Hamilton, 1822) and Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) were observed in an experimental catch of the Gomti river at Lucknow and collected along with normal individuals of the same species for further investigati...

In the present study, Pseudambassis lala (Hamilton, 1822) was identified from Gomti River, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh through morphological data (Classical Taxonomy) and molecular data (DNA Barcoding). This taxon is listed under the Near Threatened (NT) category of the IUCN Red List, 2024, and belongs to the Ambassidae family. All examined morphometric...

Due to human interference, freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats on the planet. Gomti River is a major tributary of the Ganga River System (GRS). Assessment and exploration of the river were conducted from January to December 2023. In the present study, 76 fish species (70 native and 6 exotic) belonging to 56 genera, 32 famil...

The IUCN classifies two-endemic fishes of the Western Ghats in Peninsular India: Nilgiri mystus Hemibagrus punctatus is critically endangered, and Yellow catfish Horabagrus brachysoma is vulnerable. These are threatened by habitat degradation, excess fishing, and dam construction. ICAR-NBFGR, the premier research organisation in India for fish cons...

The degradation of peri-urban wetlands has been a significant consequence of urban development and climate change. The present study discovered the decadal changes in land cover and climate impact on Raja Wetland, revealing significant alterations from 2011 to 2021. The analysis indicates substantial reductions in agricultural land (36.36%), fallow...

Cyanophyte-harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) are a challenging issue in wetland ecosystems around the world. Cyanobacteria produce microcystins (MCs), which are associated with hepatotoxicity in animals. The seasonal blooms of Microcystis are widely reported in both freshwater and brackish ecosystems throughout the world. The present study aims to a...

The loss of fish biodiversity in the coastal ecosystem of West Bengal, India, due to adverse environmental impacts both natural and anthropogenic, poses significant threats to the stability of the coastal ecosystem and economy. Therefore, accurate fish species identification and documentation is the first step toward fish biodiversity conservation....

Garra ngopi sp. n., a new Labeoninae species, is described from the Tinam stream of the Tissa River (district Longding), which is a headwater of the Brahmaputra River basin in Arunachal Pradesh, North–Eastern India. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: smooth snout with 7–8 shallow pits for...

Diseases are the most significant constraint to the sustainable growth of aquaculture. Therefore, surveillance for aquatic animal diseases is essential for early detection of diseases which is important for management of endemic diseases and eradication or containment of exotic or emerging diseases. Often, many disease incidences in aquaculture go...

This paper reports the occurrence of aberrant extra dorsal fins in a ‘Near Threatened’ butter catfish, Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) for the first time from a reservoir ecosystem in Godavari River Basin. The specimen was taxonomically confirmed through morphological features and molecular attributes. This study also highlights the possible causes...

India is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots of the world. It harbours more than 3500 fish species and more than 800 freshwater fish species. Different ecosystems harbour diverse fish species, which provide livelihoods to millions of people and serve as an important source of nutrition. As these ecosystems face multiple threats due to anthropogenic...

India is recognized as a mega biodiversity hotspot, contributing 11.72% of the world’s fish biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity is one of the most pressing global crises, raising concerns about the status of biological resources vital to human life. Following the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity, there has been global focus on t...

India’s dynamic fishing sector significantly contributes to the agricultural economy and foreign exchange earnings, with freshwater and marine environments playing pivotal roles. Nonetheless, climate change poses numerous challenges, including escalating temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, and intensified extreme weather events, all of which...

Diseases continue to be a major constraint to sustainable growth of aquaculture, resulting in huge economic losses globally. Some of the diseases like white spot disease, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease and hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis have resulted in enormous economic losses in shrimp culture, whereas finfish diseases like epizootic...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping the management of fish genetic resources and conservation biology, ushering in unprecedented opportunities for sustainable practices. Across the globe, AI is being applied to various facets of fisheries, from modeling fish abundance and distribution to predicting the effects of environmental c...

The conservation and management of fish genetic resources are linked with almost all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contribute to global development. India with vast aquatic resources including biodiversity hotspots in the Western Ghats, North East Region, Himalayas, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands supports rich fish diversity and contrib...

Marine ecosystems exhibit vast biodiversity and fulfil critical roles in supporting diverse species. Despite their distinct characteristics, these ecosystems are interconnected, as the health of one can significantly affect others. This interdependence underscores the importance of ecosystem-level conservation strategies to safeguard marine biodive...

Symbiosis, a mutualistic association, involves close interactions between two or more organisms. This relationship is particularly notable in clownfish, a commercially significant marine ornamental species, being played a major role in marine aquarium trade. In the wild, clownfish form species-specific symbiotic bonds with their host sea anemones....

Plankton forms an important component of the aquatic ecosystem and act as indicators of fish diversity, pollution levels and environmental disturbances. They form an important natural fish food resource and play a vital role in the trophic structure of the ecosystem. In the present study a systematic assessment of the community distribution and div...

The deep pools are considered vital habitats for both aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in arid and semi-arid rivers. These ‘refugia’ habitats sustain the aquatic biodiversity of local and regional importance when water flow ceases. Banas is an ecologically unique and non-perennial river in the Ganga Basin originating from the Aravalli Range and...

Anthropogenic and climatic changes are continuously altering the freshwater plankton, necessitating an evaluation of the complex structure of plankton communities to understand and mitigate these impacts. In this context, the present study focuses on evaluating the structure of plankton communities, specifically Phytoplankton Functional Groups (FGs...

A new species of nemacheilid loach, Schistura sonarengaensis sp. nov., is described from three cave‐dwelling populations (Barak–Surma–Meghna drainage) in the South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, India. The new species possesses prominent eyes but is easily distinguished from all the congeners of the genus Schistura from Barak–Surma–Meghna and ad...

Mangrove-inhabited coastal areas are seriously threatened by climate change that disturbs the sustenance of dependent native communities. This study assesses the status of climate variables to identify and evaluate climate change–induced vulnerabilities to fishers and recommend mitigation measures at a regional scale in the Pichavaram Mangroves, a...

Molluscs are among the important phylum of invertebrates inhabiting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, also found in the mangrove ecosystem. A recent report by Rosenberg [1] estimated 70,000−76,000 molluscan species which includes marine (43,600 ± 900), freshwater (5,100 ± 150) and terrestrial species including Stylommatophora (24,380 ± 2000). Mol...

Background Hemibagrus punctatus (Jerdon, 1849) is a critically endangered bagrid catfish endemic to the Western Ghats of India, whose population is declining due to anthropogenic activities. The current study aims to compare the mitogenome of H. punctatus with that of other Bagrid catfishes and provide insights into their evolutionary relationships...

Glyptothorax punyabratai, a new species, is described from the Brahmaputra River drainage in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. It is distinguished from its congeners by having the following combination of characters: a rhomboidal- shaped thoracic adhesive apparatus with bowling pin-shaped median depression which opens posteriorly; the presence of...

The concept of “state fishes of India” highlights the importance and significance of the prioritized fish species distributed across various states within the country. This review article systematically documents the current status of state fishes from various perspectives, identifies the prevailing knowledge gaps, and also highlights the issues an...

Thirty polymorphic microsatellites were developed and characterised for the aquaculture important species, Green chromide, Etroplus suratensis through Illumina Sequencing with a mean read quality (Phred score) of 35.8 and the microsatellite primers were designed from the sequenced information, considering various attributes such as the number of re...

Several technological innovations in the field of aquatic animal health in recent years hold immense potential to address the emerging challenges of infectious diseases. At the core of advancements is the One Health perspective which takes into account the interconnectedness between human, animal and environment health. Implementation of aquacultur...

Two new species have been described from Indian waters, based on the materials collected from Kochi coast, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Mannar and West Bengal coast along the Bay of Bengal. Ariosoma gracile sp. nov. is described, based on five specimens collected from the landings at Kalamukku Fishing Harbour, Arabian Sea. The new species is characterised...

Pearlspot, the state fish of Kerala is celebrated for its unique parental care practices and purported monogamous mating behavior, a notion warranting scrutiny. In this investigation, we aimed to re-assess the presumed lifelong (classical) monogamy observed in Pearlspot breeding pairs, as documented in prior studies. Contrary to prevailing beliefs,...

Changing climate exerts significant pressure on coastal wetland fishery, ecosystems and livelihood at the eco-regional level. In the present study, an indicator and scoring-based vulnerability assessment framework was developed to assess climate change-induced potential impacts and vulnerability of the coastal wetlands through stakeholder perceptio...

The king of Fish "Mahseer" is acclaimed as a world famous, outstanding game and food fish of India. River Narmada often referred as "Life Line of Madhya Pradesh" is habitat for large number of fishes including Mahseer. The Tor tor, an endangered cyprinid species. Tor tor is the State fish of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.). Mahseer is the most important fish...

The present study was conducted with the objective of developing ecologically and economically feasible pen culture protocols for Labeo catla as an alternate income source for wetland fishers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yearlings of L. catla (12.33 ± 1.99 cm mean total length and 26.05 ± 6.57 g mean weight) were reared in HDPE pens (50...

DNA Barcoding of Fishes is a comprehensible book that explains the role of innovative field of DNA barcoding in species identification and phylogenetic analysis. Written by experts in the field, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the principles, techniques, and applications of DNA barcoding in biodiversity research. This book is equally...

Aquaculture in India has primarily focused on carp culture, both indigenous and exotic species, constituting 90% of total aquaculture production. However, this emphasis on carp culture has overshadowed the significance of indigenous small fishes (ISFs), which are essential to local communities across the country. The ISFs, native to various aquatic...

Wetlands are crucial for maintaining the earth’s ecosystems, which control water supplies, modify local climates and provide humans with food. Nevertheless, wetlands confront substantial challenges attributed to human activities and natural alterations, encompassing issues like area contraction, functional deterioration, declining biodiversity, and...

Cyanophyte-harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) are a challenging issue in wetland ecosystems around the world. Cyanobacteria produce microcystins (MCs), which are associated with hepatotoxicity in animals. The seasonal blooms of Microcystis are widely reported in both freshwater and brackish ecosystems throughout the world. The present study aims to a...

The present study was conducted to document the embryonic developmental stages of clownfish, Amphiprion perideraion in captivity. The water quality parameters such as salinity (30 ppt), pH (8.2), temperature (28 ± 1°C), ammonia and nitrite (below the detectable levels) were standardized and maintained throughout the study period. The newly spawned...

The objective of the investigation was to explore the abundance, composition, and diversity patterns of the fish fauna along the temporal and spatial scale and study the influence of environmental parameters on the fish assemblage in the Rihand reservoir, a large sub-tropical Indian reservoir in India. On the temporal scale, the highest abundance w...

A new species of the ophichthid eel of the family Ophichthidae is described based on five specimens collected from the Mudasalodai fish landing center, off Cuddalore coast, southeast coast of India, Bay of Bengal. Ophichthus naevius sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by having a unique color pattern: dorsal body with numerous dense dark s...

In vertebrates, insulin-like growth like factors (IGFs) play an important role in growth and other physiological processes. The GH-IGF axis is considered a valuable tool to monitor fish growth performance. Herein, we report the molecular characterization of igf-1, igf-2, and β-actin transcripts and relative expression of igf-1 and igf-2 in the live...

The Indian hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822), is a highly valued fish of the Indo Pacific region. This paper represents the length-weight relationships (LWR), condition factor (K), relative condition factor (Kn), and otolith dimension of hilsa, throughout the Hooghly River (West Bengal) from January to December 2020. The value of expone...

Climate change associated with anthropogenic stressors is considered the main threat to these wetlands resulting in reduced water connection followed by a decline in ecological functions. This article presents a systemic approach to assess the present ecological status of a subtropical floodplain wetland concerning the fisheries and associated ecos...

India is having a huge potential of reservoir fisheries resources with 3.51 million ha water spread area. Gobindsagar reservoir is a large reservoir impounded by the construction of Bhakra dam in the river Sutlej, Himachal Pradesh with an average area of 10000 ha. The reservoir fishery supports the livelihood of more than 3000 fishermen. Assessment...

The diversity and dynamics of phytoplankton are dependent on many environmental variables in an ecosystem. Their distribution, sudden surge in population, and the mere disappearance provide an indication of the ecology. Hence, the seasonal and spatial variations in phytoplankton diversity and abundance were investigated and correlated with abiotic...

Northeastern region of India has a rich diversity of Channa species with high endemism, and both food and ornamental values. At present 17 species of snakehead are identified from Northeast region having beautiful body and fin coloration. Among them, 5 species from Assam, 2 each from Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, one from Manipur and 3 recently di...

Ompok bimaculatus is the most demanding, economically important freshwater butter catfish. As a cost of development, water health is decreasing and so is aquatic life. Because of deteriorating water quality and uncontrolled fishing O. bimaculatus stock is under threat. To conserve this species and to fulfill consumer's demand of fish for food,...

We tested the hypothesis that the Hainan’s squat shrimp Thor hainanensisXu & Li, 2014 undergoes a sex change and displays protandric hermaphroditism, a well-known feature from other congeners (T. dicaprioAnker & Baeza, 2021 and T. amboinensis (De Man, 1888)). We used morphological traits indicative of male function to categorize shrimp as prehensil...

The main tributary of the Yamuna, the Tons River, exhibits altitudinal changes in its macroinvertebrate community's diversity, abundance, and composition. Between May 2019 and April 2021, the study was conducted in the upper section of the river. A total of 48 numbers of taxa from 34 families and ten orders were recorded during the investigation. A...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute a unique class of low molecular weight peptides that are generated by the host innate immune system to elicit antimicrobial and immunostimulatory effects in all life forms. They are considered as novel therapeutic agents for combating multi drug resistance of infectious microorganisms. In the present investi...

A new species of the genus Macrocephenchelys is described herein based on a single specimen collected from the deep‐sea trawl landing at Kalamukku fish landing centre, Kerala coast, Arabian Sea. The new species is distinguished by having a dorsal‐fin origin behind the middle of pectoral fin, a larger head, shorter trunk, larger gill opening, dorsal...

The main aim of the study is to assess the present ecological status of the Bhomra Wetland concerning its fisheries and associated ecosystem services and to prescribe some climate-smart adaptation technologies in changing climate. Bhomra is an example of a closed, poorly maintained horseshoe-shaped floodplain wetland which aggravates its degradatio...

In vivo study was conducted to determine the role of insulin-like growth factors (IGF-II) related to dietary protein utilization. For this early juvenile stage of marine false clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris, 300 numbers of 20-day-old larvae (initial body weight of 18.2±0.027 mg/fish) were used as an experimental animal. Animals were fed for 12 week...

Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis sp. nov. , a new species of short brown unpatterned moray, is described, based on four specimens ranging from 272–487 mm total length collected from the trawl bycatch landings at Mudasalodai fish landing centre, off Cuddalore coast, Tamil Nadu, southeast coast of India. The new species is distinguished by the following co...

Small-scale sector fisheries associated with tropical wetland were found to be highly vulnerable to various socio-economic, ecological and climatic factors. The present study conducted in Vembanad lake in India attempted to identify and assess vulnerabilities of wetland fishers to climate variability at spatial scale. One hundred and eighty fishers...

The present investigation is an attempt for environmental characterization of two ecologically distinct oxbow lakes using zooplankton taxonomic indices following a comparative approach. These closed and seasonally open oxbow lakes are subjected to eutrophication, impacting their nutrient concentration and eco-hydrological characteristics. The zoopl...

Wetlands provide numerous ecological and economic services to mankind. The soils of wetlands are one of the largest sinks of carbon (C) among the terrestrial ecosystems and can play an important role in offsetting the emission of C as a greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere. India is bestowed with enriched wetland ecosystems that support diverse a...

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are one of the most prominent health issues of the twenty rst century and the most common cause of death worldwide. Second half of the 20th century has witnessed a global spread of the coronary artery disease (CAD) especially in developing countries, including India. Aims:The aim of the study was to nd out wh...

Floodplain wetlands form an important fishery resource of India (≈3,08,591 ha), of which 41.5% (i.e., 1,28,209 ha) lies in Northeast Region (NER) of India. Makhana (Family: Nymphaeaceae; Species: Euryale forex; Common name: fox nut) is a wetland-inhabited cash crop distribution of which is limited to tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast As...

This study is based on integrative taxonomy, which is consider to be a panacea for species discovery, taxonomic and systematic studies using morpho-meristic and molecular information. Here we report a new torrent catfish species, Amblycepshmolaii sp. nov. from Kaladan River of Mizoram, India, which is listed as Not Evaluated (NE) category under the...

Construction of a physical chromosome map of a species is important for positional cloning, targeted marker development, fine mapping of genes, selection of candidate genes for molecular breeding, as well as understanding the genome organization. The genomic libraries in the form of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones are also a very usefu...

Subterranean habitats are one of the most peculiar and mysterious ecosystems on earth, yet we still have very less information about their biodiversity. These animals often live in extremely nutrient-limited environments. Consequently, most of the subterranean fish species are relatively small in size to survive on limited food resources. We presen...

Wetlands provide a great ecological service by accumulating and sequestering carbon in their soils and thus help in mitigating climate change caused due to global warming. However, the capacity and efficiency of different types of wetlands vary considerably depending upon the nature of the wetland, hydrology, biogeochemistry, climatic condition, an...

Circular bio-economy of biogenic resources designates the plunging use of such resources, adopting a systemically formatted pathway towards sustainable economic development. Aquaculture has been perceived to play a pivotal role in supplying protein and mineral rich organic food to a growing human population. The exponential growth of aquaculture se...