An inventory of endemic fish species in India with notes on state-wise distribution and conservation measures

Abstract

Endemism refers to the species restricted to a geographical range. India is not an exception to the global perspective experiencing serious threats with regard to ecosystem instability and loss of fish diversity. A basic insight on the endemic fish species available in India and their status could be considered as a primary step to realize the present situation. This article emphasizes the endemic fish species recorded from India, their International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list status and state-wise distribution that may be useful to adopt specific conservation strategy at the regional level.