Range extension and re-recording of Redigobius bikolanus (Herre, 1927) from Great Nicobar, India

Redigobius is a genus of goby fish belonging to order Gobiiformes. Redigobius is currently represented by 15 species worldwide of which Redigobius bikolanus is a widespread species. This species was recorded previously from Middle Andaman Island in 2002. There was not a single evidence of the species after that time, from Indian region. Recently, during a faunal survey in great Nicobar Island resulted in collection of a R. bikolanus for the first time and proving evidence for range extension of the same from Nicobar group of Islands. The species was collected from one of the estuarine creeks of Great Nicobar island. Details of the morphological data, live colouration and wild habitat are provided for the new record

Fishes of West Bengal: Review and Annotated Checklist

An updated systematic inventory of the fish faunal variety from the state of West Bengal, comprising 894 species represented by 36 orders and 152 families, has been produced following an extensive review of the literature. Diversity-wise, order Acanthuriformes, has 19 families and 120 species, is the top order of both freshwater and marine fishes. Cypriniformes, which has 7 families and 117 species, is the second most diverse order and the most diverse order in freshwater. Cyprinidae, makes up 6% of the entire fish population in West Bengal, is the family with the most diversity.  Marine fishes showed the highest diversity in Gobiidae and Carangidae with 5.6% and 4.8% respectively. 221 species are fully freshwater species, whereas 297 species are marine. The rest of the species are associated with fresh water, brackish and marine habitats. According to the IUCN red list status, 8 species belong to the critically endangered category, 18 belong to the endangered category, 30 species belong to the vulnerable category and 37 species belong to the near threatened category. The conservation status of 239 fish species found in West Bengal has not yet been determined by IUCN. The present study is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive data of fish faunal diversity occurring from all the habitats present in West Bengal, which will ultimately help in the management of the prospects of fisheries resources from West Bengal as well as provide support for the effective conservational planning process.&nbsp

An updated checklist of shrimps on the Indian coast

This study reports an updated checklist of marine shrimps found along the Indian coast, including the Lakshadweep and the Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands.  A total of 364 species classified under 128 genera belonging to the order Decapoda is reported, thus adding 27 species to the existing checklist of 337 species.  Marine shrimps are classified under two suborders of the order Decapoda, viz., Dendrobranchiata and Pleocyemata, and the two suborders account for 155 (42.6 %) and 209 species (57.4 %) of these 364 species, respectively.  Pleocyemata is represented by three infraorders, viz., Axiidea, Caridea and Stenopodidea, while Caridea has a maximum of 199 reported species. Among the 12 superfamilies, Penaeoidea contributed to 38.13% (135 species) followed by Paleaemonidea with 18.07% (64 species).  All other superfamilies were found to contribute less than 12%.  Superfamilies, Bresilloidea and Psalidopodoidea had only single species representatives (0.28% each).  The final list was compiled after reviewing all existing literature including monographs, catalogues, checklists, websites and fishery reports. The scientific names were validated with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) database.  A total of 25 issues were identified from the previous checklist out of which 19 species have been updated with the correct, accepted names and six species have been removed from the previous list.</p

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Not AvailableSpecies checklists enlist the species available within the defined geographical region and thus serve as essential input for developing conservation and management strategies. The fields of conservation biology and ecology confront the chal-lenge of inflated biodiversity, attributed to non-recognition of taxonomic inconsistencies such as synonyms, alternate rep-resentation, emendations etc. Critical review of the checklists and distributional records of Phylum Echinodermata from Indian waters and subsequent validation of species names with World Register of Marine Species (WORMS) database, re-vealed that the current literature included 236 incorrect entries comprising of 162 synonyms, 15 emendations, 5 nomina dubia, I nomen nudwn, 40 species under alternate representation, 9 species with author misnomer, 1 subspecies and 1 un-accepted. The 226 species found to be mixed with valid names and a revised checklist was prepared. The revised and up-dated checklist holds 741 species of echinoderms comprising of 182 asteroids (24.56%), 70 crinoids (9.45%), 138 echinoids (18.62%), 179 holothuroids (24.16%) and 172 ophiuroids (23.21%), placed under 28 orders and 107 families. This paper discusses the cause for taxonomic inflation and argues that such taxonomic inconsistencies alter our interpre-tations of a species including its inaccurate distribution and, could possibly impede the country's conservation and man-agement efforts.Not Availabl