In the lagoons of Lakshadweep islands, omamental fishes of the families Labridae, Pomacentridae, Serranidae, Acanthuridae, Chaetodontidae, Callyodontidae, Mullidae, Balistidae, Holocentridae, Canthigasteridae, Pomacanthidae and Zanclidae, represented by a total of 191 species are important. Preliminary estimates show that Kalpeni has the largest population size, followed by Amini, Kadamat, Chetlat, Kavaratti, Agatti, Kiltan and Bitra; population per hectare was found to be highest in Amini, followed by Chetlat, Kalpeni, Kiltan, Kadamat, Kavaratti, Bitra and Agatti. Certain measures for sustainable exploitation of omamental fishes are indicate

Murty, V Sriramachandra

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Geo!. SlIrv. ind. Sp!. Pub. No. 56 2001; pp 103-111 ORNAMENTAL FISH RESOURCES OF LAKSHADWEEP V. SRIRAMACHANDRA MURTY Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute Kochi - 682 014 ABSTRACT In the lagoons of Lakshadweep islands, omamental fishes of the families Labridae, Pomacentridae, Serranidae, Acanthuridae, Chaetodontidae, Callyodontidae, Mullidae, Balistidae, Holocentridae, Canthigasteridae, Pomacanthidae and Zanclidae, represented by a total of 191 species are important. Prelimi-nary estimates show that Kalpeni has the largest population size, followed by Amini, Kadamat, Chetlat, Kavaratti, Agatti, Kiltan and Bitra; population per hectare was found to be highest in Amini, followed by Chetlat, Kalpeni, Kiltan, Kadamat, Kavaratti, Bitra and Agatti. Certain measures for sustainable exploitation of omamental fishes are indicated. INTRODUCTION The marine ornamental fishes are normally in-habitants of rocky, coral, seaweed, seagrass and rubble regions. The lagoons Of Lakshadweep be-ing rich in these habitats harbour one of the rich-est populations of ornamental fishes in the Indo-Pacific region. Jones and Kwnaran (1980) published descriptions and figures of over 600 fish species available in the sea around different islands. While this work continues to be the only reference work on fish taxonomy of this region, adequate informa-tion on availability and abundance of ornamental fishes, their population, sizes and biology is not available. A short indicative survey on ornamental fishes was conducted in 1987 (Murty et al. 1989) in the lagoons of all the inhabited islands. Tllis being a short duration (January-March 1987) survey, it only helped to have a knowledge of important orna-mental fishes aYlilable for exploitation. The stud-ies of Madan Mohan et al. (1986), Pillai et a!. (1983, 1987,1992), Pillai and Madan Mohan (1990) and Vijayanand and Varghese (1990) added to the knowl-edge on the biology and distribution of ornamental fishes from selected islands. Due to the importance of marine ornamental fishes in the export trade, some exploratory surveys of marine ornamental fishes from India were con-ducted(Anon, 1986, Tomey, 1985, 1986). However, due to lack of adequate information on the number of species available for exploitation, their stock sizes and biology relevant to stock assessment, the ex-ploitation of these fishes from Lakshadweep was not initiated. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute undertook a project on Survey and As-sessment of Ornamental Fishes of Lakshadweep and the same is being continued. It was, however, felt desirable to present the details of this work at the Workshop on the Status of Scientific Database on Lakshadweep, primarily to focus attention among the concerned on this important area of research and to identify the important species of ornamental fish from different islands ofLakshadweep. As the survery and analyses of data are yet to be com-pleted, the present results are only provisional and indicative. DATABASE The present survey was initiated in November 1993, and the different islands were visited as often as possib~e depending on the availability of ship transport . At each island at least one week was spent on each visit. Fishing was conducted using gill nets (nylon monofilament, white) of different mesh sizes ranging frem 20 to 50 mm and also encir-cling nets having a mesh size of 10 nm1. Operation of gill nets was rendered difficult because of thf, corals in the lagoons. This has often resulted in considerable damage to the nets and hence to con·· demn them. Fishing was carried out during differ-ent times in day in different parts of the lagoon (Fig. 1). Fishing was also attempted during night times « 104 Fig. 1 Map of Kavaratti Island showing the sampling sites (closed circles) in the lagoon Il Fig,. 2 Estimated population size of 12 families of omamental fishes in different islands. (I. Agatti, 2. Amini, 3. Bitra, 4. Chetlat, 5. Kadamat, 6. Kalpeni, 7. Kavaratti, 8. Kiltan) but because of the large scale damage caused by large fishes to the nets as well as the fish caught, fishing during night time was suspended. All the fish caught were preserved in formalin after identi-f'ying them in fresh condition and measuring their length and weight. These specimens were brought to the laboratory at Kochi to carry out investiga-tions on various aspects of biology. Using the catch data obtained so far in the lagoons of each island, preliminary estimate of stock size of each family of ornamental fishes was made. V SRlRAlvIACHANDRA MURTY .JL .LJa...Ja...J_. • • • l' Fig. 3 Estimated number per hectare of omamental fishes of 12 families in the lagoons of different islands -JD .)S AGATHI I IU ~ I I r=-. l1li , , ~ "'" "'" JMII--, , • ., . ~ " n .. [I .. Fig. 4 Proportion of each' family of omamental fishes in the total estimated population size of 12 families in each island 1. AC3nthuridae, 2. Balistidae, 3. Callyodontida~ 4. Canthiga,;teridae, 5. Holocentridae, 6. Labridae, 7. Chaetodontidae, 8. Mullidae, 9. Pomacanthidae,. 10. Pomacentridae, 11. Serrandiae, 12. Zanclidae IMPORTANT ORNAMENTAL FISH RESOURCES AND THEm RELATIVE ABUNDANCE Of the 600 species of fish known from Laksha-dweep islands, about 300 species are namental value. For the purpose of this ental fishes of lands l __ 1-1-L ~ -I fishes in the Jlilies in each :allyodontidae, 6. Labridae, IllIacanthidae, Zanclidae .ISH .'fIVE ORNAMENTA L FISH RESOURCE.S' OF LAKSHADWEEP lOS tion, only very important groups of ornamental fishes represented by 12 families were selected. These 12 families are known to be represented by 191 spe-cies. Among them, the family Labridae (wrasses) has the largest number of species (45) followed by Pomacentridae (Damsel fish, 35spccies), Serranidae (groupers, 21 species) Ac~n-thuridae (surgeon fish , ~9 species), Chaetodontidae (Butterfly fish, 16 spe-cies), Callyodontidae (parrot fish, 14 species), Mullidae (goat fish , 14 species), Balistidae (trigger fish, 10 species), Holocentridae (squirrel fish, 9 spe-cies), Canthigasteridae (puffer fish , 4 species), Pomacanthidae (angel fish, 3 species) and Zanclidae (moorish idol, 1 species). The data were collected from eight islands (Agatti, Amini, Bitra, Chetiat, Kadamat, Kalpeni, Kavaratti, and Kiltan) . The pre-liminary estimates of average stock size of fishes of these 12 families (Fig. 2) show that Kalpeni has the largest population size followed by Amini, Kadamat, Chetiat, Kavaratti, Agatti, KiItan and Bitra. Among these islands, however, Kadamat has the largest la-goon followed by Agatti, Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Amini, Plate 1. 1. Cheatodoll auriga (Threadfin butt~rf1y fish) 3. C. meyo::ri (Mu)1),)le buttertl)' fish) 2. C. citriJldlu~; (Speckled 13utkrtly fish) 4. C. falcula (Saddled butk1·t1y fish ) 106 Bitra, Kiltan and Chetlat. To understand the popu-lation density, hence, the stock size per hectare of lagoon area was estimated for all these islands (Fig. . r-: S1?JRAi\L·1CfL4NDRA MURTY 3). It was found that the density \vas highest in Amini, followed by Chetlat, Kalpeni, Kiltan , Kadamat Kavaratti, Bitra and Agatti. Plate II. I. Acanthurtls leucostemon (Powderblue surgeon) 3. A. lineatlls (Bluebanded surgeon) 2. A. triostegus (Convict surgeon) 4. Naso Iituratus (orange-spine lIuirom) in lun, n) ORNAMENTAL FISH RESOURCE.')" OF L4KSR'JDW£EP 107 .I'l~~ lH. 1. Gomphosus caeruleus (Bird fish) 2. Halicoeres centriquadrus (checkerboard wrasse) 3. Thalassoma hardwickii (sixbar wrasse) 4. Abudefduf sexfasciatus (stripe-tail damsel) 5. A. lacry'lllatus (Jewel dam~el) lOS Plate IV. I. Neoniphon sanunara (spolfm squirrel fish) 3. Rhineacanlhus aculcatus (I3lackbar trigger fish) Among the different families (Fig. 4), the wrasses and dams.el fishes are the most dominant in each of the islands. However, Agatti, Amini and Kavaratti arc the richest in wrasscs~ Bitra, Chetlat, Kalpeni and KiWm in damsel fishes. Besides, the surgeon fishes are abundant in Kavaratti and Kiltan; squir-r: SRJR1MACfD1NDRA MURTY 2. Callvodon hataviensis (palenose parrot fish) 4._ R. r~ctangulus (Patchy trigger fish) :!RTY .h) 1 Kiltan, :adamat ~s, fishes Lbout 86 .IV) for 'ORNAMENTAL FiSH RESOURCES OF IA lGS'HAD WEEP TABL IMPORTANT SPECIES OF ORNAMENTAL FISHES OF LAKSHADWEEP SI. FamiI.l' POllUlar Name Nwnberof bnportant spccie§ No. species known L Acanthuridae Surgeon fish 19 Ctenochaetus strigosus I Acanthurus triostegus 2. 3, A lineatus 4. A lecusternon 5. A nigricauda 6. A matoidcs 7. A elongatus 8. Naso lituratus I), N. unicornis 10. N . brevirostris It N. tuberosus 12. Zebras om a velifcmm 1 . Balistidae Trigger fish 10 Rhineacanthus aculeatus 14. R rectangulus 15. Balistapus undulatus 16. Balistoides viridescens 17', Callyodontidae I parrot fish Jot Callyodoll tacniurus 18. C. batavicllSIS 19. C. scaber 20. C. niger 21. C. ghobban 22. i C. sordidus 23. Cryptotomus spinidcns 24. Leptoscarus vaigiensis 25. Canthigasteridae puffer fish 4 Canthi gaster margaritatus 26. Chaetodontidae Butterfly fish 16 Heniochus acuminatus 27. Megaprotodon strigangulus 28. Chaetodon meyeri 29. C. lunula 30. e. citrinellus 31. e. trifasciatus 32. e. xanthocephalus 33. C. falcula 34. C. anriga 35. C. collare 36. riolocentridae Squirrel fish 9 Neoniphon samma~a 37. Sargocentron punctatissimum 38. S. spinifer 39. S. diadema 40. S. caudimaculatus 41. Myripristis murdjan 42. M . adustus IJ() V SRJRAMACH4NDRA MURTY Table 1 coutd. S!. Family Popular Name NWllberof Imllortant species No. species known , 43. Labridac Wrasses 4S Halichoeres scapularis ~. H. kawarin 45. H. centriquadrus 46. H. margil1atus 47. H. notopsis 48. Thalassol1la hard\vickii 49. T. lunare 50. GOl1lphosus caeruleus 51. G. varius 52. Anampses caeruleopunctatus 53 . CheiIio inermis 54. Stethojulis axillaris 55. S. albovittata 56. S. triIineata 57. Noyaculichthys taeuiurus 58. Epibulus iusidiator 59. Chcilinlls undulatus 60. C. trilobatus 61. Mullidae Goat fish 14- Mulluoidichthys samoensis 62. M. auriflanuna 63. parupeneus barberinus 64 P. macronemus 65. P. bifasciatus 66. Pomacanthidac Angel fi sh 3 Centropyge muitispinis 67. Pomacanthodes il1lperator 68. Pomacentridae Damsel fish 35 Dascyllus arual1US 69, D. rcticulatus 70. Chroll1is caeruleus 71. C. chrysurus 72. Pomacentrus nigricans 73 . P. albifasciatus 74. P. ll1elanopterus 75. Abudefduf sexfasciatus 76. A. saxatilis 77. A. lacrYll1atus 78. A. dickii 79. A. biocellatus 80. A. xanthozona 81. A. zonatus 82. A. galucus 83. Serranidac Groupers 21 Cephalopholis argus 84. Epinephelus hexagonatus 85. E.mcrra 86. Zanclidac Moorish idol Zanclus caneSCCllS fURTr u.s ORNAJIEVTAL FlS'JI RESOURCE)' OF VIKSfLIDWEI:P 111 exploitation. The ornamental fishes in the lagoons of Laksha-dweep are not presently exploited on a commerical scale. The present work, on completion, is expected to give information on distribution, stock size, po-tential yield, biology and population dynamics of dominant specics. The lagoons being very shallow, the fishes are vulnerable to over exploitation. once commercial operations are initiated. Besides, some of the fishes being inhabitants of coral reefs, the exploitation of fishes can lead to damage to the live corals and eventually to environmental degradation . The following aspects need consideration before exploitation ana export of ornamental fishes from the lagoons and reef flats of different islands is taken up on a commercial scale: .I. Some species of wrasses, (Halichoeres centri-quach'us, H. morginatus, H. kawarin , Slelhoju/is axillaris), damsel fishes (Dascyllus aruanllS, Chromis caeruleus, 2. 5. Abudefduf saxatilis, A. sex./clsciallls, ..1. glauclIs), surgeon fishes (.lcl1nthuyus tri().~'leglls, A. lellcosternon), parrot fishes (Ca/~vodon taenillrus, C. scaber), butterfly fishes (Chaetodon auriga, C. citrine/lus) and puffer fishes (Canthigaster l7larginatu.l) of-fer immense potential for exploitation and ex-port; this calls for developing markets for these fishes Fishing should be pc:rmitted by traps, hand nets and other llol1-destructhe methods Careful Yigil is necessary to see that the corals are nol damaged while collecting fishes living among them or in thh r vicinity The exploitation and export have to be routed through a single agency to ensure close moni-toring; information on species-wise numbers caught and exported and their lengih have to be recorded and maintained well One of the lagoons has to be left unexploited to sen'e as a sanctuary and help in preserving the biodiversity. REFERENCES ANONYMOUS ., 1986: Report on the Training Mission on ornamental fish export to the Nethcrlands. Marille Products E tport Development Authority, Cocbin, In-dia. 24 pp. JONES, S. A",n M. KliJ\l'lliAM.,1980: Fishes o/the Laccadive Archipelago. The Nature Conservation and Aquatic Scienees Service. Thiruvananthapurmn. 760 pp. MADAN MUE!';\ , C. S. GOPIKADHA PILLAI AND K.K. K UNHIKOYA .• 1986: Biology of the Blue puller. Chromis caendeu:l (Cuvier) from the Minicoy Atoll. Indian J. Fish., 33: 457-470. MURTY, VS., M. KUMARo\N AND R. S. LALMOHAN., 1989: Re-sources of ornamental fishes. In: Marine Living Re-sources of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep-all indicative survcy with suggestions for development. Bill!. Cent. mar. Fish. Res. I11St., 43: 46-64. PILLA!, C.S.G., MADAN MOHA}J AND K.K. KUNlllKOYA., 1983: On an unusual massive recruitment of the reef fish Ctenochaetlls strigoslI .l· (Bennet) (Perciformcs. Acanthuridae) to the Minieoy atoll apd its signifi-cance. IlldiallJ. Fish, 30: 261-268. PILLA!, C.S.G. , MADAN MOHAN AND K.K . KL'NHIKOYA., 1987: Ecology and biology of the white-tailed humbug. Das(vlllls arllanllS (Pomacentridae, Pisces) from Minico}' atoll. J. mar. bioi. Ass. India., 27: 113-123. PILLA!, C .S.G. , G. GUPAKUMAR ,',,"D lvL'lDAN MCHAN., 1992: Ichthyofauna of the intertidal reef nats of Minicoy atoll, Lakshadweep: an anlysis of its structure, rela-tive abundance and food. J. mar. BioI. Ass. [lIdia., 34: 74-83. PILLAI. C .S.G., AND MADAN MOHAN., 1990: Ecology and biology ofAbudejdu/ glallcus (Cuvier) (Pomacentridae, Pisces) from Minicoy atoll , Lakshadweep. Indian J. Fish., 37: 15-23. TOMEY, w.A. 1985: Survery in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, the Bombay and Madras mea: Pro-motion and export trade of Indian ornamental fishes from marine as well as fresh water OIigin and oma-ment~J water plants. Report to CBI, the Netherlands and M :lrllle Produc.ts Export Development Author-ity. eochill. TOMEY,' w.A. 1986: Promotion of exp011 trade of Indian ornamental fi$hes frum Marinc as well as freshwater origin and aquatic plants for the acquariLUn industry: the pilot project, conclusions and recommendations. Report on Project results to CBIIMPEDA. VlJAYA.'iAND, P.E. AND 1.J. VARUH}:SE., 1990: Notes onlll(\-rine omamental fishes form L3kshadweep. SeC(/; ,od Export Journal. 22 (4): 13-18. 

Ornamental fish resources of Lakshadweep

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Ornamental fish resources of Lakshadweep

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