Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822)

Sinha, Bikramjit, 2019, Ichthyofauna of Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh w. s. r. to Ranga River, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (2) : -

67. Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822)

1822. Ophicephalus gachua Hamilton, Fish Ganges : pp. 68, 367, pl. 21, Figure 21 (type locality, Ponds and ditches of Bengal)

1829. Ophicephalus marginatus Cuvier, Le Règne Animal (Edition 2) v. 2: 230.

1831. Ophicephalus limbatus Cuvier, Histoire naturelle des poissons v. 7: no p. pl. 201.

1868. Ophiocephalus guachua malaccensis var. Peters, Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preuss[ischen] Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin: 262.

Material examined: ZSI/ V / APFS / P-211 , 2 exs., 84.9 to

123.7 mm, Subansiri River, tale WLS, Lower Subansiri district , Arunachal Pradesh , 11.iii.2003, P. T. Bhutia; ZSI/ V / APFS / P-605 , 1 ex., 56.1 mm, Ranga (panyor) river, Yazali (5 km up from town), Lower Subansiri district , Arunachal Pradesh , 05.ix.2012, B. Sinha & party; ZSI/ V / APFS / P-606 , 10 exs., 14.0 to 25.8 mm, Pond, Siro village, Ziro , Lower Subansiri district , Arunachal Pradesh ,

21.vi.2012, B. Sinha & party; ZSI/ V / APFS / P-625 , 8 exs. ,

59.7 to 132.1 mm, Pow river, Takam Pasa village, Yazali , Lower Subansiri district , Arunachal Pradesh, 17.iii.2013, B. Sinha & party; ZSI/ V / APFS / P-643 , 1 ex., 101.6 mm, Ranga (panyor) river, Yazali , Lower Subansiri district , Arunachal Pradesh, 18.iii.2013, B. Sinha & party .

Distribution: INDIA:ArunachalPradesh-LowerSubansiri; Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Andaman Island. Elsewhere: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Habit and Habitat: Freshwater, benthopelagic. Inhabits hill streams, medium to large rivers, brooks, fast flowing mountain streams and also found in stagnant water bodies like sluggish canals.

Remarks: New record for the district.

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Fish Diversity of Ranga River

The Ranga River , known as Panyor River in local dialect is one of the sub-basin of river Subansiri and is also one of the major river of Lower Subansiri district. The river originates at an elevation of about 3440 m in the Dafla Hills somewhere between East Kameng district and Kurungkumey district, flows through Lower Subansiri district and further flowing through Papumpare district leaves Arunachal Pradesh at Kimin and finally it confluences with river Subansiri beyond Bihupuria in Assam. Studies on fish diversity of ranga is important as the construction of a hydropower dam at yazali has created a sort of artificial barrier for natural movement of fishes. So far, 41 species of fishes have been reported from Ranga River (Nath & Dey, 2000) . In the present study, a total of 46 species of fish have been recorded from the Ranga River. The diversity of fish upstream of the dam has reduced to only 22 species while 32 species of fishes have been recorded downstream of the dam.