Diwash Gahatraj/IPS
NEW DELHI, Apr 23 (IPS) – The Chel Snakehead fish, regarded as extinct, has made a dramatic comeback to the japanese Himalayan ecosystem after greater than 85 years of absence close to its supply river in India.
Scientifically often known as Channa amphibeus, its reemergence has delighted scientists and conservationists. The fish was discovered close to its supply river in Gorubathan, a tiny hamlet within the Kalimpong district of West Bengal. River Chel is a tributary of the Teesta River.
Two zoologists, Shaw and Shebbeare, collected the final specimens of Channa amphibeus in colonial India in 1938. Since then, regardless of quite a few surveys, nobody has discovered this mysterious fish till September 2024.
“I first discovered about this species in 2007 throughout my bachelor’s in fisheries science,” says Dr. Praveenraj Jayasimhan, the 35-year-old scientist who led the rediscovery effort. “I thought of it both to be a delusion or just an uncommon variant of one other species.”
Praveenraj, who works as a scientist at ICAR-CIARI within the Andamans and holds a PhD in Aquatic Animal Well being Administration, has beforehand rediscovered different misplaced fish species and found 19 new species. He has been engaged on Indian fishes since 2015, however the Chel Snakehead offered a novel problem.
The breakthrough got here in 2024 when Praveenraj obtained a video from a pal exhibiting what gave the impression to be the misplaced fish. “Monitoring down the placement proved difficult,” he explains. “We initially suspected the video is perhaps a morphed one.”
Via persistent effort and interviews with native communities, Praveenraj and his workforce—together with Dr. Moulitharan Nallathambi, Tejas Thackeray, and Gourab Kumar Nanda—have been finally capable of pinpoint the fish’s location within the villages close to the Chel River in northern Bengal.
In an interview with IPS, Praveenraj clarifies that the fish did not really vanish; quite, it is an especially elusive species with burrowing conduct so can solely be noticed throughout the monsoon season.
“No severe makes an attempt had been made to find it for many years,” he says.
Learn the excerpts of the interview under.
IPS: What does the rediscovery of the Chel snakehead imply for biodiversity and conservation?
Praveenraj: A fish that was regarded as extinct for a very long time has now been discovered. It displays our restricted understanding of our pure world. For instance, the Himalayan area remains to be unknown. Identical to we now have the mysterious tales of the Himalayan Yeti, Channa amphibeus can be an animal that existed, however nobody tried the search operation as a result of it required a number of funding and native assist. This highlights how restricted our understanding of the pure world really is.
It was a five-member workforce, together with me. The workforce consisted of Nallathambi, assistant professor at Tamil Nadu fisheries college, N. Balaji, a fish hobbyist and taxonomist from Mumbai; Tejas Thackeray from the Thackeray Wildlife Basis; and Nanda, a zoology scholar from Odisha.
IPS: Inform me about your analysis course of—just like the methodology, timeline, and somewhat description of your workforce.
Praveenraj: It was very stunning for us. We collected the samples in September 2024 and initially I used to be shocked to see the fish for the primary time. We photographed them alive utilizing high-resolution cameras to notice the colour patterns, as these have been the one specimens by way of which most of the people and the scientific neighborhood might see them alive. We stabilized some in ethanol and formalin for additional research. We counted the variety of scales and fins to match it with the older literature on Channa amphibeus of Shaw & Shebbeare in 1938. We studied the DNA of C. amphibeus. They have been the primary DNA sequences to be generated for amphibians. As well as, I used X-rays to notice the depend of vertebrae. The entire course of normally takes very lengthy; it takes months. We have been extraordinarily keen to finish the duty. We have been capable of end the method in a single month.
IPS: River Teesta and its tributaries are dwelling to a number of susceptible species, just like the Mahseer, Snow Trout, and Indian Catfish. How do you see the rediscovery of the Chel snakehead influencing the general understanding of biodiversity within the area?
Praveenraj: The biodiversity of the Indian Himalayan areas remains to be underestimated. We will nonetheless meet new species if correctly surveyed. Sadly, no company or establishment particularly supplies funding for taxonomic analysis. The rediscovery of the Chel snakehead exhibits that splendid habitats nonetheless exist in these rivers for the species to outlive, though there was a lot habitat degradation in these areas through the years.
IPS: In your analysis, what have been your findings concerning the state of our Himalayan rivers and their biodiversity? Kindly elaborate.
Praveenraj: I see a number of potential in that area. The Himalayas stretch for about 2,400 km as an arc from west-northwest to east-southeast throughout the northern tip of the Indian subcontinent. These mountains are the supply of a few of the area’s main rivers, together with the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus, which assist regulate the local weather of a lot of the subcontinent and past. Sadly, there is no such thing as a complete guidelines for the fish species present in these rivers, and there aren’t any concrete research discussing small and cryptic fish species. After all, there are some checklists, however most of these duties have been primarily based on the Fish Touchdown Heart Survey. I consider that the variety of fish species could possibly be greater than what we at the moment assume, a complete of 600 species.
IPS: In your analysis, have you ever discovered any influence on aquatic life as a result of fast improve in anthropogenic actions (like development of dams and railway traces, highways, and buildings)?
Praveenraj: Sure, these anthropogenic actions are at all times occurring due to growth. We will see habitats being destroyed. However nonetheless such species might be present in small pockets in distant areas.
IPS: How do you see the position of native communities, just like the one in Gorubathan or the close by area, within the conservation of those species going ahead?
Praveenraj: The species, regionally often known as Bura chung or Bora chang, is taken into account a particular delicacy and is often collected in small portions for meals. The area people possesses beneficial indigenous data relating to the gathering of this fish. It is historically saved as a secret weight-reduction plan, primarily reserved for pregnant girls. Whereas the native inhabitants is probably not absolutely conscious of the species’ conservation standing, our interviews with locals recommend that the fish is present in important numbers throughout the monsoon season. It hibernates in winter and burrows into deep horizontal holes throughout the summer season when water is scarce. Since it’s harvested in low numbers for meals, I do not really feel there’s a menace to this species.
IPS: How necessary do you suppose it’s to lift public consciousness about species just like the Chel snakehead?
Praveenraj: For the reason that fish comes from a really distant location, we consider that some sort of native consciousness is required for the local people to guard it. We managed to supply them with details about the fish for native conservation. For instance, we requested them to supply us with its life historical past traits to completely perceive its habitat and breeding nature. Now we have additionally suggested them to do sustainable harvesting throughout their hibernation time.
IPS: There was an rising curiosity in decorative fish varieties, together with snakeheads, throughout Asia. How do you suppose this rising demand for decorative fish might have an effect on the conservation of native species within the Teesta River, particularly if such fish are overharvested for commerce?
Praveenraj: As of now, just a few fish species are collected from the Teesta for the aquarium commerce; nonetheless, these fish are often fished by the native communities for meals. It’s their staple weight-reduction plan. Anthropogenic actions like sand mining, railway traces, air pollution, and discharge from tea plantations have extra influence than the gathering makes an attempt for the aquarium commerce.
IPS: From a coverage standpoint, how can the federal government of India, notably in states like West Bengal and Sikkim, improve conservation efforts for susceptible species within the Teesta River?
Praveenraj: The federal government can set up a captive breeding program and habitat restoration programme for the susceptible or threatened fishes and do periodic ranching; that’s how we are able to preserve species.
IPS: What are the gaps in current insurance policies that should be addressed?
Praveenraj: Fishes should be given precedence like we give for greater vertebrates. Air pollution and sand mining should be prevented. Analysis establishments in every state should breed their very own native indigenous fish species and do periodic ranching.
IPS: Trying forward, what do you consider the rediscovery of the Chel snakehead signifies for future analysis and conservation within the area?
Praveenraj: Tons to be explored; nonetheless, we hardly have any taxonomists engaged on freshwater fishes in India, hardly any, about six or eight individuals. We have to strengthen biodiversity research and focus extra on our indigenous fishes. Rediscovery of the Chel snakehead signifies how ignorant we’re to disregard a big snakehead fish for many years.
IPS: What must be the following steps in guaranteeing the survival of this species and others in related ecosystems?
Praveenraj: The subsequent step is to breed these snakeheads, which can maintain the fish in captivity. Aquarium pastime has sustained many fishes in captivity regardless of native extinction of the identical within the wild. We should breed and preserve our Indian megafauna quite than banning them or together with them within the Wildlife Safety Act, which has no that means in any respect. Analysis establishments should come ahead and try captive breeding for this stunning and elusive snakehead.
IPS: Lastly, How can native communities, scientists, researchers, and most of the people collaborate in preserving biodiversity?
Praveenraj: They have to work collectively to protect our native biodiversity. That is an period of digital know-how; many are utilizing social media to report new species and alien fish species, that are contributing to scientists and researchers. We hope that this understanding continues to develop.
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