RECENT ICHTHYOFAUNAL COLLECTIONS FROM THE WAYANAD PART OF WESTERN GHATS, KERALA, INDIA

The objective of the study was to prepare a catalogue of freshwater fish species from the Wayanad part of Western Ghats, Kerala, India. The freshwater fish fauna of the region was studied for a period from June 2017 to August 2021 with a sampling frequency of once in pre-monsoon, once in post monsoon and once in summer (three times a year). The fishes were collected using various fishing gears from 12 sampling stations. A total of 60 species of freshwater fishes belonging to 37 genera, 20 families and nine orders were collected during the current study. Cypriniformes (58.33%) was the most species rich order with 35 species followed by Anabantiformes (11.66%) with 7 species; Order Siluriformes (10%) was represented by 6 species; Cyprinodontiformes (6.66%) by 4 species; Cichliformes (5%) by 3 species and Synbranchiformes (3.33%) by 2 species. Order Gobiiformes, Beloniformes and Anguilliformes were represented by each of one species (1.66%). The family Cyprinidae was dominated among the collected fishes (S=18). One species was Critically Endangered (CR), one species was Endangered (EN), one was Vulnerable (VU), five were Near Threatened (NT), 30 Least Concern (LC), five Not Evaluated (NE) and one was Data Deficient (DD) as per the IUCN Red List criteria.