India begins regulating its fisheries
Last month, June 2019, the Indian government created its first ministry for fisheries. Although it clubs fishing together, rather oddly, with animal husbandry and dairy, the move fulfills a long-standing…
An SOS call for the ‘Tiger of Kaveri’
The orange-finned mahseer or hump-backed mahseer, believed to be endemic to the Kaveri river that flows through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, has been an enigma for anglers…
Gollum surfaces in India: Scientists document the first underground snakehead fish
The first snakehead fish with an underground lifestyle was hiding in the aquifers of Kerala until a chance encounter, social media and the historic floods of Kerala in 2018 thrust…
March of industrialisation tramples Kutch’s coastal ecology
“Like fish trapped in a net,” Jam Ismael Ali smiled at the irony of the simile drawn to explain his own situation. One among the few remaining Pagadia fishermen in…
Managing marine life strandings, while national protocol is awaited
On the evening of June 24, 2015, members of the Konkan Cetacean Research Team received an ominous call. A blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal in the world, was…
Migration aiding Sundarbans youth, women adapt to climate uncertainties
This is the second article in a three-part series based on Mongabay-India's travel to the Indian Sundarbans. Part One is about the highly successful dairy cooperatives in the area. Part Three sheds…
A blood-red, snake-like burrowing fish from Meghalaya
A blood-red, snake-like creature with an elongated body and sightless black spots for eyes, was spotted burrowing into the moist soil of a rainforest in Meghalaya. Amphibian biologist Rachunliu G.…
A tiny new fish discovered in a secluded stream in the Western Ghats
The Kabini river originates in the Western Ghats of northern Kerala. Cutting through the Ghats, it flows eastwards to join the Cauvery river in the neighbouring state of Karnataka. During…
Are small hydropower projects fish friendly?
Most rivers in South India, begin as small streams in forested mountains. The Western Ghats is filled with such streams. As they flow downhill they join other streams and gain…
Fish in Lakshadweep tweak feeding habits to deal with coral bleaching
Bright blue-and-yellow melon butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus) that exclusively feed on corals, tweak the way they eat, to survive on bleached reefs of the Lakshadweep archipelago, in the Arabian Sea waters,…
