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Critically Endangered Fishes in India
List of fishes
- The Pondicherry Shark:(1) No records of this species are available from India during the last two decades, with the last known spotting taking place in 1979.(2) It is still considered as critically endangered and even possibly extinct from the face of the earth.(3) This rare fish species takes its name from Pondicherry.
- The Ganges Shark:(1) Though not much is known about the nature and character of this shark, it is known that it has adaptations which help it to lead the life of a fish eater shark.(2) Found in the turbid waters of river Ganges and Bay of Bengal, the fish has been reported from Hooghly river mouth region also.(3) Few jaws of the species were spotted in the international market suggesting that the species is not completely extinct.
- Long-comb Saw fish or Narrow-snout Sawfish:(1) Distributed in the Indo-Pacific region including Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, this fish is also a victim of indiscriminate fishing and aquarium trade.(2) Usually found in shallow water, Long-comb Sawfish can grow up to 4.3m in length.
- The Knife-tooth Sawfish:(1) Knife-tooth Sawfish has a long narrow snout with blade-like teeth. This fish can grow up to 2.8 meters.(2) With its ability to survive in a range of salinity conditions, it is found in shallow coastal waters as well near the bottom of the sea even up to a depth of 40 meters.(3) It has widespread distribution in the western part of the Indo-Pacific region, including Red Sea.(4) Their unique feature – the long saw with teeth on it, make them easily caught even in primitive fish nets.
- Large-tooth Sawfish:(1) Found in the western part of the Indo-Pacific in countries like East Africa to New Guinea, Philippines and Vietnam to Australia.(2) Large-tooth saw fish is unique with its heavy-body and short, massive saw.(3) Large –tooth Sawfish is reported from inland waters of Mahandi River.(4) While dam construction and pollution from industries and other sources has destroyed its habitat considerably, indiscriminate aquarium tarde is also threatening the existence of this fish.
Source
The hindu, Indianbiodiversitytalk.