The Western Ghats, is a mountain range that covers an area of 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi) in a stretch of 1,600 km (990 mi) parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, traversing the states of Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight hotspots of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. It contains a very large proportion of the country's flora and fauna, many of which are only found in India and nowhere else in the world. According to UNESCO, the Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas. They influence Indian monsoon weather patterns by intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea. A total of thirty-nine areas in the Western Ghats, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests, were designated as world heritage sites in 2012 – twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, six in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.
The Denison barb, Denison's barb, Miss Kerala, red-line torpedo barb, or roseline shark is an endangered species of cyprinid fish endemic to the fast-flowing hill streams and rivers of the Western Ghats in India. It is commonly seen in the aquarium trade; pet collection caused it to become endangered and is its single major threat.
Idukki (ഇടുക്കി), IPA: [iɖukːi], is a district in the Indian state of Kerala. It was constituted on 26 January 1972, by splitting the district of Kottayam into two parts. Its division was previously headquartered at Kottayam city, but moved to Kuyilimala near Painavu and Cheruthoni in June 1976. Idukki district lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala.
Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area encompasses 925 km2 (357 sq mi), of which 305 km2 (118 sq mi) of the core zone was declared as the Periyar National Park in 1982. The park is a repository of rare, endemic, and endangered flora and fauna and forms the major watershed of two important rivers of Kerala: the Periyar and the Pamba.
The Pamba River is the longest river in the Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile former princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa is located on the banks of the river Pamba.
Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, which also includes the erstwhile Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 391 square kilometres (151.0 sq mi) protected area in Kollengode Block, Chittur taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala state, South India. The wildlife sanctuary, which had an area of 285 square kilometres (110 sq mi) was established in 1973. It is in the Sungam range of hills between the Anaimalai Hills and Nelliampathy Hills. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as part of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve on 19 February 2010. Including the buffer zone, the tiger reserve has a span of 643.66 km2. The Western Ghats, Anamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site. The sanctuary is the home of four different tribes of indigenous peoples including the Kadar, Malasar, Muduvar and Mala Malasar settled in six colonies. Parambikulam Tiger Reserve implements the Participatory Forest Management Scheme (PFMS). People from tribal colonies inside the reserve are engaged as guides for treks and safaris, and are provided employment through various eco-tourism initiatives. The tiger reserve hosts many capacity building training programmes conducted by Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation in association with various organisations.
Horabagrus brachysoma or the sun catfish is a species of catfish endemic to rivers in the Western Ghats of India. It is known as Günther's catfish or yellow catfish. It is also known as Manjakoori in its native range. It is also known by a host of other names, such as bullseye catfish, golden red tail catfish and solar catfish.
Batasio is a genus of catfish of the family Bagridae. These small fish are found in fast-flowing hillstreams throughout South and mainland Southeast Asia.
Dawkinsia filamentosa, filament barb is a species of barb. Young fish have barely any color and black spots. They start having more color at three months old. The fish is a swift swimmer. Males are larger than females and they fertilize eggs by swimming into the cloud of eggs. The species is most commonly found in coastal floodplains near the Southwest Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This species is also known as blackspot barb.
Dawkinsia assimilis is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Dawkinsia. It is endemic to the southern Western Ghats especially to the Southwest Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala. They are known as Mascara Barb. Filament barbs are a group of small freshwater fishes found in the rivers of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. There are nine species known under the genus Dawkinsia. These barbs are popular among aquarium hobbyists as an ornamental fish and are also collected from rivers and bred for trade.
Mesonoemacheilus petrubanarescui is a species of ray-finned fish from India. The specific name petrubanaescui honours the Romanian ichthyologist Petre Mihai Bănărescu. It grows to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) standard length. It is endemic to the Western Ghats and is known from only two locations, the Netravati River and Kabani River in Karnataka and Kerala. It is a little known species which is rare and may be threatened by habitat alteration, sand mining and pollution. It turns up occasionally in the aquarium trade where it is sold as the "dwarf loach".
Osteobrama bakeri is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Osteobrama. It is endemic to streams in the southern Western Ghats of Kerala where it has been recorded from the rivers Chaliyar ; Periyar, Chalakudy, Karuvannur, Muvattupuzha, Meenachil, Manimala, Chandragiri, Bharathapuzha, Pamba, Kallada and Achenkovil.
The Malabar snakehead is a vulnerable species of snakehead from fresh water in the Western Ghats in India. Until 2011, it was usually included in the giant snakehead, C. micropeltes.
Puntius madhusoodani is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae in Puntius genus. The species has been discovered in 2010, named and described jointly by Krishnakumar, Benno Pereira & Radhakrishnan and a study first published in Biosystematica in 2012. It was collected from Manimala River in Kerala, India, which has a running length of only 92 km and empties into the Vembanad Lake. Puntius madhusoodani is named after Prof. Dr. B. Madhusoodana Kurup, as an honour for his contribution towards the taxonomy and conservation of freshwater fishes of Kerala.
The Travancore yellow barb is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae. The species was discovered in 2011, named and described by Mathews Plamoottil from the Baby John Memorial Government College, Chavara, Kollam, Kerala in 2014 in the International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies. It was collected from Kallumkal region of Manimala River in Kerala, India, with a running length of 92 km only and it empties into the Vembanad Lake. Puntius nelsoni is named after Nelson P. Abraham of St. Thomas college, Kozhencherry.
Prof. B. Madhusoodana Kurup, is an Indian Professor and a fishery scientist, who was the founding Vice Chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), 2011- 2016. KUFOS is the first stand-alone university of its kind in India with its headquarters at the former campus of the College of Fisheries of the Kerala Agricultural University, Panangad, Kochi. Formerly he was the Director of the School of Industrial Fisheries of Cochin University of Science & Technology (CUSAT).
Laubuka fasciata is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to river systems in Kerala, India. It is known as Malabar Hatchet Chela. The fish was first discovered in 1958 in the Anamalai streams by the Keralite fish scientist Eric Godwin Silas. The species was named Fasciata because of it shiny stripe on the body.
Hypselobarbus mussullah is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the Indian endemic genus Hypselobarbus in the carp and minnow family Cyprinidae.
Travancoria elongata, which is also known as Periyar loach, is an endangered species of freshwater fish only found in Chalakudy River and Periyar River, from the family of Balitoridae (River loaches). These fishes grows up to 11 centimetres (4.3 in) long. Large-scale capture of these species from rivers in order to export them to the international market as ornamental fish has become a threat to this species. Included in the Red Data Book, they are on the verge of extinction.
Pseudeutropius mitchelli is an endangered species of freshwater fishes endemic to Kerala that belongs to the family of Schilbid catfishes. It is known as Malabar patashi.
