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A comprehensive record of the fishery resources of a tropical Ramsar wetland: Ashtamudi Estuary, India

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Abstract

Ramsar wetlands in India are rich in fishery resources but are not explored extensively for their existing fish biodiversity. There is a need for the continuous assessment of these sites to highlight biodiversity value for conservation-related aspects. As an initiative, an investigation on the exploited fishery resources of Ashtamudi Estuary, an internationally accredited tropical wetland in Kerala State, India, was carried out for an annual cycle (May 2019 to April 2020) following a routine landing center based monitoring method. Ten major landing centers were chosen to gather primary data on all finfish and shellfish species contributing to the fishery. The total species diversity accounted for 149 species of finfish, 20 species of crustaceans, and nine species of molluscs. Species richness was maximum at landing centers: -Sathikulangara and Sambranikodi located at the lower reaches of the estuary. The species diversity recorded highest values during post-monsoon and the marine species (60.6%) dominated the species composition in all seasons. The study recorded new reports of fifty finfishes, six species of crabs, one species of stomatopod, and one species of Elasmobranch from the Ramsar site. In addition, one endangered, six vulnerable, and one nearly threatened finfish species were also recorded from the estuary. This new comprehensive record of the fish fauna from the Ramsar site is thus communicated for effecting decision making to facilitate sustainable management and long-term conservation of the wetlands of International Importance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the fishermen community of Ashtamudi, for their cooperation and support during the study period. The authors also wish to express sincere gratitude to Krishnaprasad P. H. and Melbinlal, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, India; Rahul Rajan, ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, India; and R. Ravinesh, Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, India. The authors are grateful to the journal reviewers and editorial team for their helpful contributions.

Funding

The authors received funding for this research from the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Panangad 682506, Kochi, Kerala, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries Resource Management, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Panangad, Kochi, Kerala, 682506, India

    Akshay .A. Kumar & Anvar Ali P. H.

  2. ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Old Goa, Ella, Goa, 403402, India

    Sreekanth Giri Bhavan

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  1. Akshay .A. Kumar
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Correspondence to Akshay .A. Kumar.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

No animal testing was performed during this study.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgements, if applicable. The study is compliant with CBD and Nagoya protocols.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author contribution

Akshay .A. Kumar: writing — original draft, conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, investigation, resources. Anvar Ali P. H.: conceptualization, data curation, resources, methodology, formal analysis, writing — review and editing, validation, supervision. Sreekanth Giri Bhavan: data curation, formal analysis, writing — review and editing, software.

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Communicated by S. E. Lluch-Cota

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Kumar, A..., P. H. , A.A. & Giri Bhavan, S. A comprehensive record of the fishery resources of a tropical Ramsar wetland: Ashtamudi Estuary, India. Mar. Biodivers. 53, 52 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-023-01354-z

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