Among the many threatened marine species in the world, shark populations exhibit some of the most worrying trends. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s latest assessment, 139…
What lurks underground, is miniature and resembles bhujia, a popular Indian snack, when preserved? A very special fish called the Bhujia eel loach. Bhujia eel loach (Pangio bhujia), a new…
India’s first inter-state river interlinking project has hit a roadblock with a Supreme Court committee questioning the basis on which wildlife clearance was granted to it. Punching holes in the…
It was September 7, barely a month after the floods of 2018 had wrecked large parts of Kerala. Though life was far from normal in Thrissur's coastal Kodungalloor, 48-year-old Jaison…
Fifty-two-year-old Moreshwar Namdeo Koli is a fisherman whose family has been fishing in the Arabian sea off the Mumbai coast for the past three generations. His is among the 15,000…
“The most extreme thing about the ocean is its sheer, inconceivable size. In that enormous volume – the biggest habitat on earth – lives a kaleidoscope of animals, plants, microbes…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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 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.…
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…
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…
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,…
Suckermouth sailfin catfish (Pterygoplichthys spp.) or ‘janitor fish’ are popular among aquarium owners as hardy and peaceful bottom feeders that keep the tank clean. But these native South American fish,…
Tajen Das’s voice is full of foreboding. It mirrors the choppy waters of the Bay of Bengal as he spruces up his fishing boat and gear for the upcoming hilsa…
Some of West Bengal’s most-loved fish may go off the menu, thanks to climate change in the Sundarbans. A team of researchers that is mapping biological sensitivity of certain fish…
Marine biologists have been raising concerns about bottom trawling for years. The fishing technique involves a boat dragging a weighted net along the seafloor, scooping up whatever marine life swims…