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A review on the ichthyofaunal diversity in mangrove based estuary of Sundarbans

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Abstract

The two great rivers of India the Ganga and the Brahmaputra form their estuary at the lower part of West Bengal and most of the part of this estuarine system is surrounded by Sundarban mangrove forest. This mangrove based estuarine ecosystem harbors a large number of fin fishes i.e. more or less 267 species of fishes which belong under 81 families. Estuary’s own ecological characters and mangrove’s all beneficial features support this high species diversity here. But due to continuously increasing natural and anthropogenic stresses, nowadays this entire species community faces a tremendous problem of extinction. 82 species under 24 families loss their juveniles in a significant number regularly due to wild harvest of lucrative prawn seeds. The present article aims to review the roles of estuary and mangroves in enrichment of finfish diversity and the possible threats causing harm to the same.

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Acknowledgments

We like to pay our sincere gratitude to the University Grants Commision (UGC) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for providing us financial grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquaculture Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygaunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Banani Mandal, Arunava Mukherjee & Samir Banerjee

  2. Department of Zoology, Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College, 30, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata, 700033, India

    Banani Mandal

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  1. Banani Mandal
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  2. Arunava Mukherjee
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Correspondence to Banani Mandal.

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Mandal, B., Mukherjee, A. & Banerjee, S. A review on the ichthyofaunal diversity in mangrove based estuary of Sundarbans. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 23, 365–374 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-012-9300-8

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