Completed Projects

a) Principal Investigator:

Dr. Angsuman Chanda

b) Implementing Institute:

Raja N L Khan Women's College

c) Summary of the project:

• A total of 55 species of ornamental fish from 54 blocks in three districts of West Bengal were observed. It has been observed that 50 species of ornamental fish have been identified from 21 revenue blocks of Paschim Medinipur. Similarly, 47 species of freshwater ornamental fish have been recorded from 25 blocks of Purba Medinipur and the same number of species has also been recorded from 8 different revenue blocks of Jhargram district.
• The maximum ornamental fish species have been found in Gopiballavpur-I block of Jhargram district (37 species), followed by Ghatal, Sabang, Debra, and Midnapore blocks of Paschim Medinipur District and Moyna, Potaspur-I & II, Bhawanpur-I, Mohisadal, and Nandigram-I blocks of Purba Medinipur District.
• Maximum number of Aquarium shop sold Denio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) & Puntius conchonius (Hamilton-Buchnan, 1822). These two species are most important in aquarium purpose of Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur district. Maximum number of Aquarium shop sold Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus,1766) and Stigmatogobius sadanundio (Hamilton-Buchnan,1822) in Purba Medinipur district.
• A maximum price for Macrognathus aral, Sctophagus argus (Rs.100/pair) and a minimum price for Puntius chola (Rs.30/pair) have been recorded in the study.
• Sorensen’s Quotient of Similarity Index (1948), based on the distribution of inland freshwater ornamental fishes in three districts, namely Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram and Purba Medinipur reveals a strong similarity between each other, which is quite expected because of the same climatic conditions and same water parameters of these closely located three districts.
• Three species namely Puntius conchonius (Hamilton, 1822) and Puntius gelius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822), Puntius guganio (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) have been recorded first time from the study area and only Puntius conchonius (Hamilton, 1822) sold from aquarium shop. Puntius gelius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) & Puntius guganio (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) have a good ornamental value due to their attractive colour and behaviour.

a) Principal Investigator:

Dr. Sheela, S.

b) Implementing Institute:

Zoological Survey of India

c) Summary of the Project:

• Total 464 species of Ants found existing in West Bengal, which amounts to 54.65% of total ant fauna of India.
• Leptanilla ujjalai Sheela et al., a new species described from Neora Valley National Park.
• Calyptomyrmex friederikae Kutter 1976, Plagiolepis pissina Roger 1863, Dolichoderus brevis Santschi and Tertramorium guineense (Bernard 1953) are first report from India.
• The species, found most dominant and common in distribution, were not surviving in the coldest environment.
• The pristine forests of Neora Valley provided maximum diversity with four new species and many rare species. An interesting association of ants was found from the same forests, as ants were found rearing mealy bugs in their nests under moss beds as a food source.
• The genus Colobopsis, commonly known as exploding ants for its suicidal habit by exploding self to protect the colony, is a less known genus from India C. cotesii (Forel) had been reported from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand C. angustula Emery was described from Singapore in 1870 Thereafter Bingham reported the species from Barrackpore in 1903 and Hannan reported it from Bangladesh in 2003.
• Both Colobopsis angustula and C. cotesii were collected from the core area of Buxa Tiger reserve. Those were seen on tree trunk, moving very slowly. Only single specimen of both species could be procured despite long time efforts. The species Colobopsis angustula is rediscovered from India after 118 years.
• Calyptomyrmex friederikae Kutter 1976 is reported so far, only from Bhutan. Here the species is collected from Buxa Tiger Reserve.
• Gesomyrmex spatulatus Cole is a rare species known only from Assam, India (described in 1949). The genus contains only four species from the world so far. The species found distributed in different ranges of the Buxa Tiger reserve.
• Pristomyrmex sulcatus Emery, reported before only from Sikkim, is also a rare record. Kartidris nyos Bolton was described from Meghalaya, and is the only species of the genus from India which have 7 species all over the world. Here the species was collected from Neora Valley.
• Rhopalomastix rothneyi Forel was described from Karnataka and here it is collected from Buxa Tiger Reserve and being reported for the first time from West Bengal.
• Studies from Singalila National Parks showed the presence of only five genera with eight species of Ants in the entire range surveyed. The genus Myrmica found dominating and distributed throughout. Three species of this genus was found, of which Myrmica pachei was found dominating.

a) Principal Investigator:

Dr. Priti Ranjan Pahari

b) Implementing Institute:

Tamralipta Mahavidyalaya

c) Summary of the project:

• In the present project work, total 33 species of freshwater prawn and shrimp have been recorded throughout the Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram district. Among these, 19 belongs to family Palaemonideae, 8 belongs to the family Penaedae and rest 6 belongs to family Atyidae.
• Macrobrachium rami, a new species, has been discovered from Rupnarayan river of Purba Medinipur District.
• Caridina temasek an atyid shrimp has been recorded for the first time from India.
• Among 19 species, 17 belongs to genus Macrobrachium while one species of each of Exoplameon and Laptocarpus.
• Three Palaemonid prawn, Macrobrachium hendersodayanum, M. tiwari and M. banjarae are being recorded for first time from West Bengal.
• Four species of atyid shrimp, Caridina gracilirostris, C kutcha, C longirostris and C williamsoni have been reported for the first time from West Bengal.
• 10 species of Palaemonid prawn have been recorded for the first time from Purba Medinipur district.
• Four species viz M. lamarrei, M. malcolmsoni and M. villosimmanus are endemic to the Indo-Barma sub region.
• Nematopalaemon from this region has not been recorded in the present study, it appears that this species has gone locally extinct.
• Another palaemonid prawn species M scabriculum recently become very rare species but once it was very abundant in the pond ecosystem with huge macrophytes in this district.

a) Principal Investigator:

Prof. Jai Prakash Keshri

b) Implementing Institute:

Dept. Of Botany, University of Burdwan

c) Summary of the project:

• About 41 taxa appear to be rare in their occurrence i. e. 20% of the taxa recorded in the investigation.
• Following taxa appear to be endangered in nature:
  • Glaucospira laxa
  • Hapalosiphon intricatus
  • Hapalosiphon welwitschii
  • Nostochopsis lobata
  • Volvox carteri
  • Botryococcus braunii
  • Audouinella hermanii
• One alga Prasiola subareolata recorded by the author in an earlier investigation from Srikhola of Darjeeling district appears threatened (Keshri, J. P. & Mallick, P. 2013. On the Occurrence of Prasiola subareolata Skuja (Chlorophyta: Prasiolales) from India.

a) Principal Investigator:

Dr. L. Kosygin Singh, Scientist D, Shri K.C. Gopi, Scientist E

b) Implementing Institute:

Zoological Survey of India

c) Summary of the project:

• The Jaldhaka River is one of the six major rivers of the Darjeeling Himalayas and it has rich diversity of freshwater fishes. In the present report a total of 155 species under 79 genera, 33 families and 12 orders are documented based on the present study and available literature from the Jaldhaka River in West Bengal, India.
• The highest species diversity was observed in the Cypriniformes order with 76 species (49.0%), followed by Siluriformes with 47 species (30.83%), Anabantiformes with 15 species (9.7%), Synbranchiformes with 4 species (2.5%), Perciformes with 3 species (1.9%). The remaining orders are represented by one or two species each.
• Among families, the highest species diversity was recorded in Cyprinidae with 36 species (23.2%), followed by Danionidae with 20 species (12.9%), Sisoridae with 17 species (11.0%), Bagridae with 14 species (9.0%), Nemacheilidae with 9 species (5.8%), and the remaining families include one to 4 species each.
• The fish fauna of the river is a mixture of endemic hill streams, Himalayan and widely distributed forms. One new cyprinid species, Garra jaldhakaensis was described from the Jaldhaka River, and G. binduensis is considered valid and redescribed. Four species, viz., Amblyceps arunachalensis, Garra quadratirostris, Garra birostris and Olyra parviocula are reported for the first time in the West Bengal state and extended their distribution to the state.
• The Jaldhaka River is blessed with 7 fishes endemic to India. Of which 2 species viz., Garra binduensis and Garra jaldhakaensis are originally described from the Jaldhaka River and endemic to this river. Other endemic species in the Jaldhaka River are Amblyceps arunachalensis, Badis assamensis, Lepidocephalichthys arunachalensis, Olyra parviocula and Schistura fasciata.
• A noticeable altitudinal gradient of fish diversity was observed along the Jaldhaka River. Fish diversity was significantly and positively correlated with elevation. The highest species diversity was observed in the downstream (116 species), followed by midstream (103 species and upstream (24 species). Species richness declined rapidly with altitude; nearly 74.8% of the species were recorded downstream, where the altitude is less than 80 m a.s.l.
• Eleven ornamental fishes of the river were identified using DNA barcoding techniques.
• The socio-economic condition of the fishermen of the Jaldhaka River are poor, and about 85% are below the poverty line (BPL). The fish fauna of Jaldhaka River includes 3 endangered (Tor putitora, Lepidocephalichthys arunachalensis and Clarias magur) and 2 vulnerable species (Semiplotus semiplotus and Schizothorax richardsonii) as per IUCN status.
• Timely intervention is required to study the habitat of these fishes, and conservation measures should be implemented for these threatened species. Threats and conservation strategies of fishes of the Jaldhaka River are discussed.

a) Coordinators:

Dr. S. N. Ghosh, Senior Research Officer, WBBB; Mr.Kushal Mookherjee, Prakriti Samsad

b) Associates:

Dr. Santi Ranjan Dey, Rammohan College, Dr. Biplob Kumar Modak, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Dr. Biplab Kumar Mukhopadhayay, Kanchrapara College, Dr. Rupa Mukhopadhyay (Bose), Bangabasi College, Dr. Suman Pratihar, Sukumar Sengupta Mahavidyalaya, Dr. Debasish Das, Tufangunj College, Dr. Saswati Sen, WWF- India, Prakriti Samsad, Mr. Animesh Bose, HNAF

c) Implementing Institute:

West Bengal Biodiversity Board

d) Summary of the project:

• 67 Species from 4 water bodies of Birbhum, 99 Species from 19 water bodies of East Medinipur, 143 Species from 11 water bodies from South 24 Parganas, 59 species from 22 water bodies of Nadia, , 119 species from 13 water bodies of Jhargram, almost 200 Species from 11 waterbodies of North 24 Parganas, near about 150 species from 30 water bodies of Purulia and approximately 250 species from 39 water bodies of Murshidabad has been monitored.