Migratory Fishes of Meenachil River, Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India: Present Status, Threats and Conservation Strategies

Cheriyan P. Letha^1, and Oommen Manu²

¹Department of Zoology, Mar Thoma College Tiruvalla, Kerala, India

²Department of Zoology, Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India

Cite this paper:
Cheriyan P. Letha and Oommen Manu. Migratory Fishes of Meenachil River, Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India: Present Status, Threats and Conservation Strategies. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2022; 10(12):754-761. doi: 10.12691/aees-10-12-8

Abstract

Interruption in the connectivity provided by the free-flowing river is the most critical issue threatening the life of migratory fishes. Unlike other rivers of Southern Western Ghats, the Meenachil River does not have any hydroelectric dams. Instead, it has several check dams without fish passages along its course, fragmenting the river into discrete lentic zones hampering fish migration. The present study conducted in the Meenachil River of Southern Western Ghats from 2015 to 2019 documented the different migratory fishes of the river and their abundance during different seasons in correlation to the precipitation pattern of the region. Thirteen fish species under catadromous, anadromous, and oceanodromous migrants belong to seven orders, ten families, and twelve genera were recorded in the study. Monsoon is the only season when the river overflows the check dams, restoring the river’s continuity and lateral connectivity. A significant positive correlation was observed (p=0.59 .p< 0.05) between the rainfall pattern and the abundance of migratory fishes during the study period. The nearly threatened migrants of the river, Anguilla bengalensis recorded the lowest relative abundance of 0.23 and Wallago attu 1.14, respectively. Indiscriminate monsoon catching of the gravid species Labeo dussumeiri and Wallago attu during their spawning migrations upstream using specially designed aerial traps was reported. Other monsoon traps Cheru and Perumkoodu set along the flooded river’s lateral connections targeted the floodplain migrants of the river Heteropneustes fossilis, Channa striata and Channa marulius. Gill net traps were set along the migratory pathways to catch Horabagrus brachysoma, a vulnerable species. The salinity barrier Thanneermukhom Bund in Vembanadu Lake, the confluence zone of the river, prevents the migration of the Anguilla bengalensis, Megalops cyprinoides and Mystus gulio between Meenachil River and the Arabian Sea.

Keywords:
Migration riverine fishes check dams spawning migrants salinity barrier

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Dingle, H. and Drake, V.A, “What is migration?”, Bioscience. 57, 113-121, February 2007.
[2]	Lucas, M.C. and Baras, E. Migration of Freshwater Fishes, Blackwell Science, Oxford, 2001.
[3]	Brink, K., Gough, P., Royte, J., Schollema, P., and Wanningen, H, From Sea to Source 2.0. Protection and restoration of fish migration in rivers worldwide, World Fish Migration Foundation, 2018.
[4]	Deinet, S., Scott-Gatty, K., Rotton, H., Twardek, W.M., Marconi, V., McRae, L., Baumgartner, L.J., Brink, K., Claussen, J.E., Cooke, S.J., Darwall, W., Eriksson, B.K., Garcia de Leaniz, C., Hogan, Z., Royte, J., Silva, L.G.M., Thieme, M.L., Tickner, D., Waldman, J., Berkhuysen, A, The Living Planet Index (LPI) for migratory freshwater fish: Technical Report, World Fish Migration, 2020.
[5]	Grill, G., Lehner, B., Thieme, M., Geenen, B., Tickner, D., Antonelli, F., Babu, S., Borrelli, P., Cheng, L., Crochetiere, H., Ehalt Macedo, H., Filgueiras, R., Goichot, M., Higgins, J., Hogan, Z., Lip, B., McClain, M.E., Meng, J., Mulligan, M., Nilsson, C., Olden, J. D., Opperman, J.J., Petry, P., Reidy Liermann, C., Saenz, L., Salinas-Rodriguez, S., Schelle, P., Schmitt, R.J.P., Snider, J., Tan, F., Tockner, K., Valdujo, P.H., van Soesbergen, A., and Zarfl, C, “Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers”, Nature, 569 (7755), 215-221, May 2019.
[6]	Winemiller, K.O., McIntyre, P.B., Castello, L., Fluet C,E., Giarrizzo, T., Nam, S., Baird, I.G., Darwall, W., Lujan, N.K., Harrison, I., Stiassny, M.L.J., Silvano, R.A.M., Fitzgerald, D.B., Pelicice, F.M., Agostinho, AA., Gomes, L.C., Albert, J.S., Baran, E., Petrere Jr., M, Zarfl, C., Mulligan, M., Sullivan, J.P., Arantes, C.C., Sousa, L.M., Koning, A. A., Hoeinghaus, D.J., Sabaj, M., Lundberg, J.G., Armbruster, J., Thieme, M.L., Petry, P., Zuanon, J., Torrente Vilara, G., Snoeks, J., Ou, C., Rainboth, W., Pavanelli, C.S., Akama, A., van Soesbergen, A., and Sáenz, L, “Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong”, Science, 351 (6269), 128-129, March 2016.
[7]	Allan, J.D., Abell, R., Hogan, Z., Revenga, C., Taylor, B.W., Welcomme, R.L., and Winemiller, K, “Overfishing of inland waters”, BioScience, 55, 1041-1051, December 2005.
[8]	Letha, P.C and Manu, O, “Post–flood changes in the fish fauna of Meenachil River, Kerala South India, Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, 8, 53-61, August 2020.
[9]	The Global Resister of Migratory Species (GROMS) www.groms.de.
[10]	Larinier, M, Environmental issues, dams and fish migration, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper, 2001, 45-90.
[11]	Gopalakrishnan, O. and Riede, K, Some observations on fish migration, with emphasis on tropical waters, 2004.
[12]	Jayaram, K.C. 2010. The Freshwater Fishes of the Indian Region.Narendra Publishing House, Delhi.
[13]	Talwar, P.K. and Jhingran, A.G, Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries, Oxford-IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1991, 1158.
[14]	McDowall, R.M, Diadromy in Fishes: Migrations between Freshwater and Marine Environments, Croom Helm, London, 1988, 308.
[15]	Froese, R., and Pauly, D. FishBase. World Wide Web Electronic Publication, 2020. www.fishbase.org, version (3/2020)
[16]	Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. and Van der Laan, R(eds). Eschmeyer's Catalog Of Fishes: Genera, Species, 2022. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp.
[17]	Katwate, U, Secretive Migrations of Indian Freshwater Fishes, 2020.
[18]	Wu, H., Jin, C., Jijun, X., Zeng, G., Lianhai, S., Qiang, L., Zhengjie, Y., Dai, J., Dacong, Y., Liang, J. and Ye, S, “Effects of dam construction on biodiversity: A review”, Journal of Cleaner Production, May 2019.
[19]	Smith, Kimberly G., Joseph C. Neal, and Michael A. Mlodinow. “Shorebird migration at artificial fish ponds in the prairie-forest ecotone of northwestern Arkansas.” The Southwestern Naturalist, 107-113, March 1991.
[20]	Trépanier, S., Rodriguez, M.A and Magnan, P, “Spawning migrations in landlocked Atlantic salmon: time series modelling of river discharge and water temperature effects”, Journal of Fish Biology, 48 (5), 925-936, May 1996.
[21]	Jansen, H.M., Winter, H.V., Bruijs, M.C.M., and Polman, H.J.G, “Just go with the flow? Route selection and mortality during downstream migration of silver eels in relation to river discharge”, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64, 1437-1443, June 2007.
[22]	Van Der Meer, M, “Eels over the dykes: Trap and transport of silver eels in the Netherlands”, DUPAN/SEG, October 2012.
[23]	Baltazar-Soares, M., Biastoch, A., Harrod, C., Hanel, R., Marohn, L., Prigge, E. and Eizaguirre, C, “Recruitment collapse and population structure of the European eel shaped by local ocean current dynamics”, Current Biology, 24 (1), 104-108, December 2014.
[24]	Pacariz, S., Westerberg, H. and Björk, G, “Climate change and passive transport of E uropean eel larvae”, Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 23 (1), 86-94, May 2014.
[25]	Shaji, C.P. and Laladhas, K.P, “Monsoon floodplain fishery and traditional fishing methods in Thrissur district, Kerala”, Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 12 (1), 102-108, June 2013.
[26]	Molur, S. and Walker, S, Conservation Assessment and Management Plan, Workshop Report by Zoo Outreach Organization. CBSG, Indian Edition, Coimbatore, 2001, 100.
[27]	Prasad, G., Rajeev, R., Sreeraj, N. and Anvar, A.P.H, Biology, conservation and culture potential of Horabagrus brachysoma, an endangered bagrid catfish from Vembanad Lake, Kerala, (S. India). Sustain Fish 2005. International Symposium on Improved Sustainability of Fish Production Systems and Appropriate Technologies for Utilization. Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India. Abstract No. WFM.C.08, 2005, 46.
[28]	Ponniah, A.G. and Gopalakrishnan, Dr, Endemic Fish Diversity of Western Ghats, 2018.