Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2020 | 12(1): 15154–15172

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4893.12.1.15154-15172

#4893 | Received 14 February 2019 | Final received 03 November 2019 | Finally accepted 04 December 2019

An overview of fishes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their present conservation status

Kazi Ahsan Habib ¹, Amit Kumer Neogi ², Najmun Nahar ³, Jina Oh ⁴, Youn-Ho Lee ⁵ & Choong-Gon Kim ⁶

¹ Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Fisheries, Aquaculture & Marine Science, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.

^2,3 Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab, Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.

^4,5,6 Marine Ecosystem Research Division, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Busan 49111, Korea.

¹ ahsan.sau@gmail.com (corresponding author), ² neogi3710@gmail.com, ³ naharnajmun887@gmail.com,

⁴ jnoh@kiost.ac.kr, ⁵ ylee@kiost.ac, ⁶ kimcg@kiost.ac.kr

Editor: J.A. Johnson, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India. Date of publication: 26 January 2020 (online & print)

Citation: Habib, K.A., A.K. Neogi, N. Nahar, J. Oh, Y-H. Lee & C-G. Kim (2020). An overview of fishes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh and their present conservation status. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(1): 15154–15172. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4893.11.15.15154-15172

Copyright: © Habib et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

Funding: This research has been carried out under Yeosu project funded by Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea Foundation.

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Author details: Kazi Ahsan Habib is a Professor and the Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) in Bangladesh. The topics of his research focus are marine biodiversity, DNA taxonomy, DNA barcoding and metabarcoding, phylogenetics, population genetics of marine organisms. He received PhD in Marine Biology from Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) under the University of Science and Technology (UST), South Korea. Currently he is serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Science at SAU.

Amit Kumer Neogi has a broad interest in biology encompassing the fields of animal taxonomy, entomology, genetics, ecology, and conservation biology. He has been graduated from Jagannath University, Dhaka. He was a former senior researcher at Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab., in Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU) on fisheries molecular taxonomy. He is now working as a specialist in communicable disease programme at BRAC. Najmun Nahar is working as a research assistant at Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab., in Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU). She has completed her BSc in Zoology and MSc (Fisheries) in Zoology from National University. Jina Oh graduated from Chungnam National University. She has completed PhD degree from Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) under University of Science and Technology (UST), Korea. Her research interests are ichthyoplankton and fish biology. Youn-Ho Lee is the principal research scientist and professor at KIOST. He graduated from Seoul National University and received his PhD in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research interests include dynamics of marine ecosystem and molecular ecology, population genetics, biogeography and evolution of marine organisms such as fish, sea urchin, abalone, and zooplankton. Choong-Gon Kim is the principal research scientist and professor at KIOST, Korea. He graduated from Kyeongpook National University and received his PhD in molecular genetics from Tokyo University. His research interests include genomic biology, biodiversity and genetics. At present he is involved in the research on human healthcare using by marine resources.

Author contribution: Kazi Ahsan Habib and Amit Kumer Neogi collected the data and drafted this article; Amit Kumer Neogi, Jina Oh, Kazi Ahsan Habib analysed the morphological and molecular data; Najmun Nahar analysed the morphological characters; Choong-Gon Kim and Youn-Ho Lee reviewed the manuscript.

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to Md. Amir Hosain Chowdhury, DCCF of Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) for his valuable comments and information during drafting the paper. We also pay thanks to the Bangladesh Forest Department for their cooperation during the study at Sundarbans.

Abstract: Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world is located in Bangladesh and India. Studies done on the diversity of fish fauna in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh are sparse and patchy. Here we take the opportunity to provide an updated checklist of the fishes of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh based on primary and secondary data. Field surveys were undertaken in the aquatic habitat of Sundarbans core area along with its adjacent marine habitat from June 2015 to July 2017. Based on published information and primary observations the updated list of fishes covers a total of 322 species belonging to 217 genera, 96 families, and 22 orders. Additionally, four species of fishes, are newly reported in Bangladesh waters, viz., Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899; Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915; Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934; Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849. The global IUCN Red List status of each species has been enlisted. The updated checklist will constitute the reference inventory of fish biodiversity for the Sundarbans, a natural world heritage site.

Keywords: Bangladesh, checklist, fish, mangroves, Sundarbans, World Natural Heritage Site.

Abbreviations: Dorsal fin D₁—1^stDorsal fin | D₂—2^ndDorsal fin | P₁—Pectoral fin| P₂—Pelvic fin| A—Anal fin.

Introduction

Mangroves are intertidal forested wetlands confined to the tropical and subtropical regions (Tomlinson 1986). The total area of the mangroves in the globe is an estimated 18.1 million ha (Spalding et al. 1997). The Sundarbans, the single largest tract of mangrove forest in the world covers about 1 million hectares in the delta of the river Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Among the total area 60% lies in Bangladesh and the rest in India. This transboundary ecosystem is extremely important both ecologically and economically as it provides a nursery and breeding area for key fishes including those of the Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans in Bangladesh covers an area of 6,017km² along its southwestern part sharing 4,143km² of land and 1,874km² of water bodies comprising of hundreds of creeks, canals, small and large rivers, and estuaries. This mangrove forest was declared a Ramsar site by the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance in 1992 and declared as a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997 (Figure 1). Despite continued degradation, the Sundarbans contributes 3% to the country’s gross domestic product out of 5% contribution of the country’s forestry sector (Roy & Alam 2012).

The fish diversity of the brackish water ecosystem of the Sundarbans is usually associated with tolerance to a wide range of salinity fluctuation and migration. The freshwater fish species having low salinity tolerance enter into upper estuarine zone mainly in the period of ebb tide, while marine fishes are usually confined to the lower zone. Though some species travel freely in the whole salinity area for a major part of the year, very few can be considered as ‘native’ (Mishra 2017). Basically, most of the fish species enter into the brackish waters of the Sundarbans and spend for a certain period of their life cycle there either for shelter and feeding or for spawning purposes. The major threat to fishes of the Sundarbans region are environmental changes, reduction of freshwater discharge during lean seasons, increased salinity, use of destructive fishing gear (e.g., set bag net, small mesh size gill net), over exploitation, extraction of resources, and pollution.

Information regarding the diversity of fish in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh is scattered. Fishes of the Sundarbans were first described in the study of Hamilton (1822). He described about 71 fish species in the Gangetic estuaries and 51 of them occurred from the Sundarbans. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, several researchers and authors published different scientific and conference papers, project reports, guides and books on fish faunal diversity especially since 1978. Only some of them can be considered as valid references on the species availability in the Sundarbans waters such as Seidensticker & Hai (1983), Rahman (1989), Acharya & Kamal (1994), Chantarasri (1994), Bernacsek (2001), Bernacsek & Haque (2001), Shah & Hossain (2006), and Rahman et al. (2009). The main objective of the present study is to assess the existing fish fauna of Sundarbans and accumulate all fish species from the valid records made so far. Additionally, we have reviewed the present fishing practices in the Sundarbans detrimental to fish biodiversity, and the national policies made for fisheries management and conserving fish diversity.

Methods

We consulted the primary and previously published articles, records, and books on ichthyological studies in the Sundarbans to build this checklist. These collections are mainly taken for preparing the list of the fishes known to occur in the Sundarbans and their valid identification and confirmation. Unbiased and sincere efforts were made in accumulating such a valuable treasure.

In the present survey, specimens of fishes were sampled between June 2015 and July 2017 from the major rivers of the Sundarbans, viz., Baleswar, Shibsa, Passur, Shela, Kobadak, Kalindi, Kholpetua, and a few of the tidal estuaries, and adjacent marine habitat in the Sundarbans, with the help of local fishermen during fishing (Figure 1). The fishes were also collected from the fish markets inside or near the Sundarbans of Khulna, Bagherhat, and Satkhira districts. The spellings of scientific names and species validity were checked following Fishbase (Froese & Pauly 2018) and the California Academy of Sciences Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer et al. 2018). The arrangement of families and order are made according to Nelson (2006) and Laan et al. (2014). The identification was made by using FAO fish species catalogues which present detailed taxonomic accounts of all known species of individual families. As the checklist is intended to be a master reference for the Sundarbans habitat conservation and management, we consulted the latest global IUCN Red List status of each species (IUCN 2018). For habitat preference, we consulted previous data, our primary observation, reference website (Froese & Pauly 2018) and different reference books (Siddiqui et al. 2007; Rahman et al. 2009). DNA barcoding through mitochondrial COI gene sequencing was done for the newly recorded species during the present survey and the sequence was submitted to GenBank.

Results

Based on the previously published information, specimens housed in the Aquatic Bioresource Research Lab., SAU and observations in the present study, the updated list of fishes of Sundarbans, Bangladesh provides information of 322 species belonging to 217 genera of 96 families and 22 orders (Table 1). In the present checklist, we have not considered any description. The column named as “present study” of Table 1, signifies our primary data collected between July 2015 and June 2017 and “previous literature” signifies the names which were enlisted in previous work on Sundarbans conducted by different scholars. Among the enlisted fish, Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) contains 23 genera, 11 families and six orders whereas bony fish (Osteichthyes) covers 194 genera, 85 families and 16 orders. Maximum numbers of fishes (165 species, 50.24%) were recorded from order Perciformes in Sundarbans, Bangladesh. The number of fish species recorded under 22 orders is given at Figure 2.

In the present article, we report four new distributional records of fishes from the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh, viz., Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899; Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915; Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934; Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849 (Image 1).

Order Carcharhiniformes

Family Triakidae

Genus Mustelus Linck 1790

Mustelus mosis Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1899

Materials examined: Specimens collected from Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1A); coll. Habib and Neogi, 03.ii.2016; one specimen (Specimen voucher F1602sb-73). GenBank accession number MF588562.

Identification: Body color reddish-grey above and dull white ventrally. Small sized shark, with an elongate and slender body; snout markedly pointed and long. Mouth triangular, with well-developed labial folds. Skin fairly smooth.

Order Tetraodontiformes

Family Tetraodontidae

Genus Lagocephalus Swainson, 1839

Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915

Materials examined: Specimens collected from Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1B); coll. K.A. Habib, 03.ii.2016; three specimens (Specimens voucher F1602sb-65-2, F1602sb-64, F1602sb-65-3). GenBank accession numbers MF588654, MF588655, MF588656.

Identification: Fin formula D 22-23; P₁ 14; P₂ 6; A 19-21. Color of dorsal side of the body is brown with several dark bands crossing over the back; a silver-white band running on the side of the body was found in the holotype. The dorsal fin dusky. The caudal fin dark brown or almost black with the dorsal and ventral white tips. The pectoral and anal fins pale. Body stout and small sized fishes, covered with small spinules on back, abdomen and throat; caudal fin rounded.

Order Perciformes

Family Carangidae

Genus Carangoides Bleeker, 1851

Carangoides hedlandensis Whitley, 1934

Materials examined: Specimens collected from Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate 21.71N, 89.59E (Image 1C); coll. Habib and Neogi, 16.xii.2016; two specimens (Specimens voucher F1612sb-69, F1612sb-66). GenBank accession numbers MF588553, MF614771.

Identification: Fin formula D₁ VIII; D₂ I/22 P₁19; P₂ I/5; A II+I/17. Body color bluish-green above and silvery white below; dorsal fin dusky; filamentous soft rays black, soft dorsal fin yellow; pectoral and anal fins silvery; caudal fin yellowish green; pectoralfin dusky. A black opercular spot present. Body strongly compressed and very deep. Eye diameter about equal to or larger than snout length. Central rays of dorsal and anal fins elongated. Scales small; breast naked. Lateral line anteriorly with a moderate regular arch.

Order Perciformes

Family Uranoscopidae

Genus Uranoscopus Linnaeus, 1758

Uranoscopus cognatus Cantor, 1849

Materials examined. Specimens collected from Bangladesh: Sundarbans: Dubla: Alorkol; coordinate 21.71N; 89.59E (Image 1D); coll. Habib and Neogi, 21.ii.2017; three specimens (Specimens voucher F1702sb-29, F1702sb-30, F1702sb-31).

Identification. Fin formula D₁ IV; D₂ I/8; P₁14; P₂ I/5; A III/8. Body color grayish above and minute black dots on upper third body; sivery below; opercle golden. Body compresses; anterior moderately and posterior deeply. Head flat above. Caudal fin slightly emarginated. Lateral line absent. Scales ctenoid.

Discussion

In Bangladesh, Acharya & Kamal (1994) first made a list of fishes from a portion of the Sundarbans where 53 species of pelagic and 124 species of demersal fishes were included. Afterward, another list of finfishes has been compiled by Bernacsek & Haque (2001) where the fishes were basically gathered from the baseline study of Chantarasri (1994) under a project of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and this study contained a list of 196 species reported from the Sundarbans of Bangladesh. This baseline survey on the fishes of the Sundarbans reproduced many subsequent reports on fish biodiversity in the 1980s. After that no significant study on fish diversity has been conducted on the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh. Further, no conservation status was assessed by IUCN locally in Bangladesh for Sundarbans’ marine and brackish water fishes. In the present study, we have categorized all of the compiled fishes according to the Global IUCN status, which is given in the Table 1.

About 54.35% species of enlisted fishes belongs to the category of “Not Evaluated” and only 4.04% of fishes are in “Data Deficient” (Figure 3). Around 33.23% of species are categorized as “Least concern”, some of which are exploited for commercial purposes such as Elops machnata Forsskal, 1775; Gudusia chapra Hamilton, 1822; Coilia sp., Thryssa sp., Ilisha sp., Arius arius Hamilton, 1822; Sillago sihama Forsskal, 1775; Alepes sp. Among the fishes of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh enlisted in the present study 4.04% (13 species) of the species are “Near Threatened” and 10 species (3.11%) species are “Vulnerable” viz. Rhynchobatus djiddensis Forsskal, 1775, Glaucostegus granulatus Cuvier, 1829, Himantura undulata Bleeker, 1852, Himantura uarnak Gmelin, 1789, Pateobatis uarnacoides Bleeker, 1852, Maculabatis gerrardi Gray, 1851, Hippocampus kuda Bleeker, 1852, Epinephelus erythrurus Valenciennes, 1828, Epinephelus lanceolatus Bloch, 1790 and Carinotetraodon travancoricus Hora & K.K. Nair, 1941. Four (1.24%) species viz. Glyphis glyphis Müller & Henle, 1839, Sphyrna lewini Griffith & Smith, 1834, Eusphyra blochii Cuvier, 1816, and Anoxypristis cuspidata Latham, 1794 are listed as “Endangered” based on the global Red List status. Based on our observations, Himantura uarnak, Glyphis glyphis, Sphyrna lewini and Eusphyra blochii that are frequently found in the Sundarbans though the Red List mentions these as threatened globally.

Most of the shark, skates, and rays (Elasmobranchs) are usually over-exploited for their fins and skins. Dried fins are used for the shark fin trade and other parts of the shark body are used for other purposes. Sharks are sold through an open bidding system. Before selling, the fishes are graded species-wise and sometimes lengthwise. We recorded a good number of Chiloscyllium griseum Muller & Henle, 1838 of the order Orectolobiformes which was previously overlooked in the Elasmobranchs checklist of the Sundarbans. A total of 10 species of rays under the order Myliobatiformes are enlisted here, among them Brevitrygon imbricata Bloch & Schneider, 1801 and Telatrygon zugei Müller & Henle, 1841 are new reports from the Sundarbans area of Bangladesh.

Eels are usually a less studied group in Bangladesh. Anguilla bengalensis Gray, 1831 which is locally named as Bamosh, is a known commercially valuable species. In this present checklist, we list 10 species of the order Anguilliformes. Among them Gymnothorax punctatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Gymnothorax tile Hamilton, 1822, and Moringua raitaborua Hamilton, 1822 are newly reported from the Sundarbans area.

Recent taxonomic studies of the family Leiognathidae (Pony fishes) suggest several changes; however, a total of seven species have been recorded in this family from the Sundarbans. Among them we found four species where Leiognathus brevirostris Valenciennes, 1835 was newly recorded in the Sundarbans. Pony fishes are small fishes and commercially not valuable. Those species are usually exploited for dried fish.

Puffer fishes belong to the family Tetraodontidae. A total of 13 species of puffer fish has been listed in this checklist from previous literature and the present study whereas Shamsuzzaman et al. (2015) recorded nine marine puffer fish species from Cox’s Bazar located on the eastern coast. Among 13 species of puffer fish reported in the Sundarbans until now, we documented four new records of which three species, viz., Triacanthus biaculeatus Bloch, 1786; Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758, and Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758 are locally new and the species Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 is the first record in the country. This study also added a new described species, Chelonodontops bengalensis Habib et al., 2018 from the same family.

The Sundarbans is where mainland Bangladesh meets the Bay of Bengal, making the area a globally unique ecological niche. In the Indian part, 34 elasmobranchs under 10 families and 271 bony fishes belonging to 61 families are known from the Sundarbans (Pal et al. 2014). In the present checklist, 36% species have been found as the habitants of both marine and brackish water followed by 26% as exclusively marine, 25% as marine, freshwater & brackish, 11% freshwater and brackish, and 2% exclusively as freshwater fish (Figure 4).

Among the bony fishes a few rare species of fishes are also reported from the Sundarbans of Bangladesh in this updated check list, viz., Rhizoprionodon acutus, Himantura uarnak, Gymnura poecilura, Epinephelus coioides Hamilton, 1822, Glaucostegus granulatus, Antennarius hispidus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Bregmaceros mcclellandi Thompson, 1840, Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758, Allenbatrachus grunniens Linnaeus, 1758, and Chelonodontops bengalensis (Image 2). After the previous report by Hussain (1969), we report Antennarius hispidus from the Bay of Bengal coast of Bangladesh.

To the best of our knowledge, no study has been performed to assess diversity and breeding status of fish exclusively for three protected wildlife sanctuaries in the Sundarbans. In the present study, we have tried to cover the sanctuaries to assess its existing species composition of fishes; however, detailed and year-round study is necessary. One of the major limitations in a year-round survey is the lack of a vessel suitable to go downstream of rivers and canals during the monsoon season due to the strong current of the heavy downwards water flow.

Kobadak, Kholpetua, Rupsa, Shibsa, Pashur, Baleshwar, Raimangal, Arpangasia, Sakbaria are the main rivers passing through the Sundarbans which constitute about 2,000km² of waterways (Khan 2011), in addition to numerous small rivers, canals and creeks. The Sundarbans in Bangladesh has been divided into northeastern freshwater, middle to southern moderately saline and western saline zones (Chaffey et al. 1985). Therefore, it has brackish water as well as fresh water fish available in the labyrinth of water bodies. The government made some regulations and passed acts to protect and maintain sustainable production of fish in the Sundarbans area which are executed and enforced by the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD). For example, 18 ‘khals’ (canals) in the buffer zone of the Sundarbans have been permanently closed for fishing to ensure natural breeding of fish under Khal Closure Regulation (1989). Further, canals of less than 25 feet width have been banned for fishing throughout the Sundarbans. Entire fish of these small canals can be caught easily using poison and trapping fish setting net from two ends. Fishing is prohibited in three wildlife sanctuaries of Sundarbans by Wildlife Sanctuary Regulations (1999). Close Season Regulation (2000) banned catching of three finfish species, viz., Pangasius pangasius, Plotosus canius, Lates calcarifer, from 1 May to 30 June every year inside the Sundarbans to ensure natural breeding. BFD also implements the banning of Hilsa fishing each year imposed by Bangladesh Government’s Department of Fisheries during peak breeding season during a certain time of the month between September and October every year (e.g., 9–30 October in 2019).

Fishers of the Sundarbans use different kinds of harmful nets and gear for catching fish which cause damage to aquatic lives, such as monofilament gill nets (called current Jal) are responsible for the killing of different aquatic animals and small sized fishes. Fine-meshed set bag nets (locally called Behundi Jal), pull and push nets (Thela Jal), fine-mesh mosquito nets (Chingri Pona Jal), long shore nets (Khuti Jal) have been identified as the most destructive among all the fishing gears in the Sundarbans. Catch mortality is very high for these nets. Set bag nets used for collecting shrimp fry in the estuary and rivers of the Sundarbans also catch eggs, spawn, and larvae of all species along with adult fish. It is highly detrimental for declining fish diversity. Local fishers also use pull nets to catch post larvae (PL) of shrimps which also hampers fishery growth. In such cases they dispose unwanted larvae onto land rather than being freed into water, resulting in wastage. Thus, these larvae do not get the opportunity to mature into fish. It has been observed that about 99 fin fish and fry of other shrimp species are discarded for collecting a single shrimp post larva (Rashid 2000; Azad et al. 2017). Considering such a detrimental effect, the Government of Bangladesh declared a regulation in 2000 where it was stated that “no person shall catch or cause to be caught fry or post larvae of fish, shrimp and prawns of any kind in any form and in any way in the estuary and coastal waters of Bangladesh” (MoFL 2000). Unfortunately, thousands of people still catch post larvae of fish, shrimps and prawns and market their catch.

Poison fishing is another ecosystem threatening practice of the locals. It is very alarming that some fishermen are illegally using lethal poison to catch fish including crabs and shrimps in the Sundarbans canals. They release poison into the water and collect the dying fish. The poison is so deadly that a few drops of it are sufficient to kill a large amount of fish. It also contaminates the water, planktons, and mangrove tree roots. As toxic water flows into the large rivers from canals, it is not only the fish species that are being destroyed, but the entire aquatic ecosystem is also under threat. Such dangerous practices cause a great risk to the flora and fauna of the Sundarbans and may create long-term negative effects on its ecology. This illegal practice needs a close watch to stop it. Increased and regular patrolling inside the forests and, motivation and engaging fishers against this is under way to stop this practice.

Mangrove forest is the breeding and nursery ground of many fish species. In a prohibitive order, the BFD had banned fishing in all of the canals (around 450) in the Sundarbans for the two months of July and August in 2019 for ensuring safe breeding and for conservation. It has been also observed that the intensity of poison fishing is higher in these two months; however, more studies need to be carried out to accurately identify the canals and creeks where breeding of fish occurs and which fish breed especially in the downstream with their specific breeding seasons. Netting of fish was also banned in the beels (e.g., Andaria beel) and chatals of the Sundarbans from February to March in 2019 for smooth breeding as proposed in IRMP (2010). The beels and chatals are lake-like wetlands with static water but chatals are relatively smaller. Further, a chatal gets totally dried out in the late winter but a beel does not. Some chatals are located between Chandpai and Sharankhola range of the Sundarbans. Both of the wetlands are reservoirs of freshwater. Both waterbodies are the source of many small indigenous freshwater fish species such as Anabas testudineus, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes fossilis, Channa sp. etc. The actions taken by the Government of Bangladesh to protect the availability and diversity of fish in Sundarbans have been shown in Table 2. This table has been prepared based on UNESCO (2016) along with different acts and regulations made by Bangladesh Government. Besides, to prevent over fishing, the number of boat license certificates (BLC) provided by BFD to allow fishermen for catching fish inside Sundarbans were limited. The maximum number of annual BLC issuance has been 12,000. The first priority in issuing BLC is given to those boat owners who live within 5km area around the Sundarbans. The maximum limit of permits for a month is given for three times and 5–7 days fishing is allowed under one permit (UNESCO 2016).

This article is primarily aimed to compile the information generated by authors and previous workers on the occurrence of total fish species from the past to the present in the core and adjacent marine areas of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. This checklist should be considered as a working document and several additions of records of fish species for Sundarbans are added with survey work, particularly in the unique aquatic ecosystem. More studies should be conducted on the Sundarbans fishes to known the total scenario of this unique ecological niche. Based on the study further management measures can be taken with the forest department to protect fisheries. Lastly, awareness campaigns need to be carried out on a larger scale for fish conservation.

Table 1. List of fish species from the Sundarbans including their order and family status, english name, local name, scientific name, Global IUCN Red List status, earlier literature record and their habitats (Abbreviations: EN—Endangered | VU—Vulnerable | NT—Near Threatened | LC—Least Concern | DD—Data Deficient | NE—Not Evaluated | F—Freshwater | B—Brackish | M—Marine).

	Order/ Family	English name	Scientific name	Red List status	Present study	Previous literature	Habitat
1	Orectolobiformes Hemiscylliidae	Grey Bamboo Shark	Chiloscyllium griseum	NT	√		M,B
2	Carcharhiniformes Carcharhinidae	Dog Shark	Scoliodon laticaudus	NT	√		M,B
3		Shark	Glyphis glyphis	EN		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
4		Scoliodon Walbeehmii	Rhizoprionodon acutus	NE	√		M,F,B
5		Blacktip Reef Shark	Carcharhinus melanopterus	NT		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
6	Carcharhiniformes Sphyrnidae	Scalloped Hammerhead Shark	Sphyrna lewini	EN	√		M,B
7		Hammerhead Shark	Eusphyra blochii	EN		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
8	Carcharhiniformes Triakidae	Hardnose Smoothhound	Mustelus mosis	DD	√		M
9	Torpediniformes Narkidae	Brown Spotted Numbfish	Narcine brunnea	NE	√		M
10	Torpediniformes Narcinidae	Electric Ray	Narcine timlei	DD		Bernacsek 2001а	M
11		Spottail Sleeper Ray	Narke dipterygia	DD	√		M
12	Rajiformes Rhinobatidae	Gulter Fish	Rhynchobatus djiddensis	VU		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
13		Sharpnose Guiterfish, Shovelnose	Glaucostegus granulatus	VU	√		M
14	Myliobatiformes Dasyatidae	Scaly Whipray	Brevitrygon imbricata	DD	√		M,F,B
15		Dwarf Whipray	Brevitrygon walga	NT	√		M
16		Stingray	Himantura undulata	VU		Bernacsek 2001а	M
17		Leopard Stingray, Reticulate Whipray, Honeycomb Stingray	Himantura uarnak	VU	√		M,B
18		Cowtail Stingray	Pastinachus sephen	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
19		Bleeker's Whipray	Pateobatis uarnacoides	VU		Bernacsek 2001а	M
20		White Spotted Stingray	Maculabatis gerrardi	VU		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
21		Cowtail Stingray	Pastinachus sephen	NT		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
22		Sharp Snout Stingray	Telatrygon zugei	NT	√		M,B
23	Myliobatiformes Gymnuridae	Longtail Butterfly Ray, Butterfly Ray	Gymnura poecilura	NT	√		M
24	Elopiformes Elopidae	Tenpounder,Tarpon	Elops machnata	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
25	Elopiformes Megalopidae	Indo-Pacific Tarpon	Megalops cyprinoides	DD	√		M,F,B
26	Anguilliformes Muraenidae	Red Sea White-Spotted Moray	Gymnothorax punctatus	NE	√		M
27		Moray Eel	Gymnothorax tile	NE	√		M,F,B
28		Moray Eel	Gymnothorax sp.	NE	√		M,B
29		Slender Giant Moray	Strophidon sathete	NE	√		M,B
30	Anguilliformes Muraenesocidae	Yellow Pike Conger	Congresox talabonoides	NE		Huda et al. 2003	M,B
31		Eel	Congresox talabonoides	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
32		Daggertooth Pike Conger	Muraenesox cinereus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
33	Anguilliformes Ophichthidae	Boro Snake Eel	Pisodonophis boro	LC	√		M,F,B
34	Anguilliformes Anguillidae	Purple Spaghetti Eel	Moringua raitaborua	NE	√		F,B
35		Giant Mottled Eel	Aquilla bengalensis	NT	√		M,F,B
36	Clupeiformes Clupeidae	Chacunda Gizzard Shad, Shortnodse Gizard Shad	Anodontostoma chacunda	NE	√		M,F,B
37		Indian River Shad	Gudusia chapra	LC	√		F,B
38		Kelee Shad	Hilsa kelee	NE	√		M,F,B
39		Bloch’s Gizzard Shad, Longfinned Gizzard Shad	Nematalosa nasus	LC	√		M,F,B
40		White Sardine	Escualosa thoracata	NE	√		M,F,B
41		Gold Stripe Sardine	Sardinella gibbosa	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
42		Sardine	Sardinella fimbriata	NE	√		M,B
43		Indian Oil Sardine	Sardinella longiceps	NE	√		M
44		Blacktip Sardinella	Sardinella melanura	NE	√		M
45		River Shad, Hilsa Shad	Tenualosa ilisha	LC	√		M,F,B
46		Toli Shad, Shad	Tenualosa toli	NE	√		M,F,B
47	Clupeiformes Engraulidae	Goldspotted Grenadier Anchovy	Coilia dussumieri	NE	√		M,F,B
48		Neglected Grenadier Anchovy	Coilia neglecta	LC	√		M,B
49		Ramcarat Grenadier Anchovy	Coilia ramcarati	NE	√		M,B
50		Gangetic Hairfin Anchovy	Setipinna phasa	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
51		Scaly Hairfin Anchovy	Setipinna taty	NE	√		M,B
52		Indian Anchovy	Stolephorus indicus	NE	√		M,B
53		Common Hairfin Anchovy	Setipinna tenuifilis	NE	√		M,B
54		Spined Anchovy	Stolephorus tri	NE	√		M,B
55		Anchovy	Thryssa dussumieri	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
56		Hamilton's Thryssa	Thryssa hamiltonii	NE	√		M,B
57		Oblique Jaw Thryssa, Gangetic Anchovy	Thryssa purava	NE	√		M,B
58	Clupeiformes Chirocentridae	Wolf Herring	Chirocentrus nudus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
59		Dorab Wolf-Herring	Chirocentrus dorab	NE	√		M,B
60	Clupeiformes Dussumieriidae	Rainbow Sardine	Dussumieria acuta	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
61	Clupeiformes Pristigasteridae	Smooth Back Herring	Raconda russeliana	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
62		Indian Pellona Herring	Pellona ditchela	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
63		Indian Ilisha	Ilisha melastoma	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
64		Bigeye Herring	Ilisha megaloptera	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
65		Coromandal Ilisha	Ilisha filigera	DD		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
66		Long Finned Herring	Opisthopterus tardoore	NE	√		M,B
67	Cypriniformes Cobitidae	Guntea Loach	Lepidocephalichthys guntea	LC	√		F,B
68	Cypriniformes Cyprinidae	Swamp Barb	Puntius chola	LC	√		F
69		Barb	Puntius terio	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F
70		Gangetic Scissortail Rasbora	Rasbora rasbora	LC	√		F,B
71	Siluriformes Plotosidae	Canine Catfish Eel	Plotosus canius	NE	√		M,F,B
72		Striped Ell Tail Catfish	Plotosus lineatus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
73	Siluriformes Schilbeidae	Gagra	Clupisoma garua	LC	√		F,B
74	Siluriformes Ailiidae	Gangetic Ailia	Ailia coila	NT	√		F,B
75		Silond Catfish, Silondia Vacha	Silonia silondia	LC	√		F,B
76	Siluriformes Pangasiidae	Fatty Catfish	Pangasius pangasius	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
77	Siluriformes Bagridae	Tengara Catfish	Mystus tengara	LC	√		F,B
78		Catfish	Mystus bleekeri	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
79		Long-Whiskered Catfish	Mystus gulio	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
80	Siluriformes Clariidae	Walking Catfish	Clarias batrachus	LC		Huda et al. 2003	F,B
81	Siluriformes Sisoridae	Gangetic Goonch, Devil Catfish	Bagarius bagarius	LC	√		F,B
82	Siluriformes Ariidae	Gagora Catfish	Arius gagora	NT	√		M,F,B
83		Spotted Catfish, Sea Catfish	Arius maculatus	NE	√		M,F,B
84		Yellow Sea Catfish, Marine Catfish	Arius venosus	NE	√		M,B
85		Threadfin Sea Catfish	Arius arius	LC	√		M,B
86		Blacktip Sea Catfish	Plicofollis dussumieri	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
87		Flatmouth Sea Catfish	Plicofollis platystomus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
88		Dusky Catfish, Sona Sea Catfish	Sciades sona	NE	√		M,B
89		Engraved Catfish	Nemapteryx nenga	NE	√		M,B
90		Engraved Catfish	Nemapteryx caelata	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M,B
91		Giant Sea Catfish	Netuma thalassina	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
92		Bronze Catfish	Netuma bilineata	NE	√		M,F,B
93	Siluriformes Heteropneustidae	Stinging catfish	Heteropneustes fossilis	LC	√		F,B
94	Aulopiformes Synodontidae	Bombay Duck	Harpadon nehereus	NE	√		M,B
95		Greater Lizard Fish	Saurida tumbil	LC	√		M
96	Gadiformes Bregmacerotidae	Unicorn Cod	Bregmaceros mcclellandi	NE	√		M,B
97	Lophiiformes Antennariidae	Shaggy Angler, Zebra Frogfish	Antennarius hispidus	NE	√		M
98	Beloniformes Belonidae	Banded Needle Fish, Square Tail Alligator Gar	Strongylura leiura	NE	√		M,B
99		Spottail Needle Fish	Strongylura strongylura	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
100		Needle Fish	Tylosurus crocodilus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
101		Silver Needle Fish	Xenentodon cancila	LC	√		M,F,B
102	Beloniformes Hemiramphidae	Congaturi Halfbeak	Hyporhamphus limbatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
103		Georges Halfbeak, Longbilled Halfbeak	Rhynchorhamphus georgii	NE	√		M,F,B
104	Beloniformes Zenarchopteridae	Buffon’s Halfbeak, Buffon’s Garfish	Zenarchopterus buffonis	NE	√		M,B
105		Ectuntio Halfbeak	Zenarchopterus ectuntio	NE	√		F,B
106	Beloniformes Exocoetidae	Tropical Two-Winged Flying Fish	Exocoetus volitans	LC	√		M
107	Syngnathiformes Fistulariidae	Red Cornetfish, Flute-Mouth	Fistularia petimba	LC	√		M,B
108	Syngnathiformes Syngnathidae	Sea Horse, Smooth Seahorse	Hippocampus kuda	VU	√		M,B
109	Synbranchiformes Synbranchidae	Cuchia, Gangetic Mud Eel	Monopterus cuchia	LC	√		F,B
110	Synbranchiformes Mastacembelidae	Lesser Spiny Eel	Macrognathus aculeatus	NE	√		F,B
111		Striped Spiny Eel	Macrognathus pancalus	LC	√		F,B
112	Scorpaeniformes Scorpaenidae	Plaintail Turkeyfish, Russell`S Firefish	Pterois russelii	NE	√		M,B
113		Miles Lion Fish	Pterois miles	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
114	Scorpaeniformes Synanceiidae	Grey Stingfish	Minous monodactylus	NE	√		M
115		Painted Stringer	Minous pictus	NE	√		M
116	Scorpaeniformes Platycephalidae	Rough Flathead	Grammoplites scaber	NE	√		M,B
117		Flathead	Cociella punctata	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
118		Spiny Flathead	Kumococius rodericensis	NE	√		M
119		Spotted Flathead	Cociella crocodilus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
120		Thorny Flathead	Rogadius asper	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
121		Flathead	Rogadius pristiger	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
122		Bartail Flathead	Platycephalus indicus	NE	√		M,B
123	Perciformes Epinephelidae	Cloudy Grouper, Cloudy Rock Cod	Epinephelus erythrurus	VU	√		M,B
124		Orangespotted Grouper	Epinephelus coioides	NT	√		M,B
125		Blacktip Grouper	Epinephelus fasciatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
126		Grouper	Epinephelus tauvina	DD		Bernacsek 2001а	M
127		Vermillion Grouper	Cephalopholis miniata	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
128		Gaint Gruper	Epinephelus lanceolatus	VU	√		M,B
129	Perciformes Terapontidae	Terapon Perch, Three-striped Tiger Fish	Terapon jarbua	LC	√		M,F,B
130		Big Eye	Terapon theraps	LC	√		M,F,B
131	Perciformes Priacanthidae	Moontail Bulls Eye	Priacanthus hamrur	LC	√		M
132		Purple Spotted Big Eye	Priacanthus tayenus	LC			M
133	Perciformes Apogonidae	Broad-banded Cardinalfish	Ostorhinchus fasciatus	NE	√		M
134		Three Striped Cardinalfish	Apogon septemstriatus	NE	√		M
135	Perciformes Sillaginidae	Gangetic Sillago	Sillaginopsis panijus	NE	√		M,F,B
136		Silver Sillago	Sillago sihama	LC	√		M,B
137	Perciformes Channidae	Asiatic Snakehead	Channa orientalis	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
138		Striped Snakehead	Channa striata	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
139		Spotted Snakehead	Channa punctata	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
140	Perciformes Rachycentridae	Cobia, Black King Fish	Rachycentron canadum	LC	√		M,B
141	Perciformes Echeneidae	Common Remora	Remora remora	LC	√		M
142	Perciformes Carangidae	Razorbelly Scad	Alepes kleinii	LC	√		M
143		Shrimped Scad	Alepes djedaba	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
144		Black-Fin Scad	Alepes melanoptera	LC	√		M,B
145		Threadfin Trevally	Alectis indica	LC		Huda & Haque 2003	M,B
146		Threadfin Trevally	Alectis ciliaris	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
147		Black-Fin Jack	Atropus atropos	LC	√		M
148		Oxeye Scad	Selar boops	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
149		Bigeye Scad	Selar crumenophthalmus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
150		Longfin Trevally	Carangoides armatus	NE	√		M,B
151		Bigeye Trevally	Caranx sexfasciatus	LC	√		M,B
152		Bumpnose Trevally	Carangoides hedlandensis	NE	√		M
153		Trevally	Carangoides malabaricus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
154		Giant Trevally, Giant Kingfish	Caranx ignobilis	LC	√		M,B
155		Red Tailed Mackerel Scad	Decapterus kurroides	NT	√		M
156		Torpedo Scad	Megalaspis cordyla	LC	√		M,B
157		Black Promfet	Parastromateus niger	NE	√		M,B
158		Double Spotted Queenfish	Scomberoides commersonnianus	LC	√		M,B
159		Queen Fish	Scomberoides tol	NE	√		M,B
160		Black Banded Trevally	Seriolina nigrofasciata	LC	√		M,B
161		Longrakered Trevally	Ulua mentalis	LC	√		M
162	Perciformes Menidae	Moon Fish	Mene maculata	NE	√		M,B
163	Perciformes Leiognathidae	Orangefin Ponyfish	Photopectoralis bindus	NE	√		M,B
164		Shortnoso Ponyfish	Leiognathus brevirostris	NE	√		M,B
165		Striped Ponyfish	Leiognathus fasciatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
166		Common Ponyfish	Leiognathus equulus	NE	√		M,F,B
167		Deep Pugnose Pony Fish	Secutor ruconius	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
168		Pugnose Pony Fish	Secutor insidiator	NE	√		M,B
169		Tooth Pony	Gazza minuta	NE	√		M,B
170	Perciformes Lactariidae	False Trovally	Lactarius lactarius	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
171	Perciformes Lutjanidae	John`S Snapper, Red Snapper	Lutjanus johnii	LC	√		M,B
172		Malabar Red Snapper	Lutjanus malabaricus	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M,B
173		Pinjalo Snapper	Pinjalo pinjalo	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
174		Blood Snapper	Lutjanus sanguineus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
175	Perciformes Uranoscopidae	Stargazer	Astroscopus guttatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
176		Dollfus' Stargrazer	Uranoscopus guttatus	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M
177		Stargazer	Ichthyscopus inermis	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
178		Stargazer	Ichthyscopus lebeck	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
179	Perciformes Datnioididae	Four Barred Tigerfish	Datnioides polota	NE	√		F,B
180	Perciformes Gerreidae	Whiptail Silverbiddy	Gerres filamentosus	LC	√		M,F,B
181		Silverbiddy	Gerres sp.	NE	√		M,B
182	Perciformes Haemulidae	Silver Grunt	Pomadasys argenteus	LC	√		M,F,B
183		Blotched Grunt	Pomadasys maculatus	LC	√		M,B
184	Perciformes Sparidae	Ongspine Seabream	Argyrops spinifer	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
185		Yellow Seabrem	Acanthopagrus latus	DD		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
186		River Bream	Acanthopagrus berda	LC	√		M,F,B
187	Perciformes Nemipteridae	Double Whip Threadin Bream	Nemipterus nematophorus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
188		Pink Perch	Nemipterus japonicus	NE	√		M
189	Perciformes Sciaenidae	Goatee Croaker	Dendrophysa russelii	NE	√		M,F,B
190		Croaker	Chrysochir aureus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
191		Blackmouth Croaker	Atrobucca nibe	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
192		Sharpnose Hammer Croaker	Johnius borneensis	NE	√		M,F,B
193		Silver Croaker	Pennahia argentata	NE	√		M
194		Large-Eye Croaker	Johnius plagiostoma	NE	√		M,F,B
195		Coitor, Crocker	Johnius coitor	LC	√		M,F,B
196		Large Fined Croaker	Johnius macropterus	NE	√		M,F,B
197		Black Croaker	Johnius dussumieri	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
198		Gangetic Bola, Croaker	Johnius gangeticus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
199		Kathala Croaker	Kathala axillaris	NE	√		F,B
200		Cuja Croaker	Macrospinosa cuja	NE	√		M
201		Pama Croaker	Otolithes parna	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
202		Lesser Tiger Toothed Croaker	Otolithes cuvieri	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
203		Tiger Toothed Croaker	Otolithes ruber	NE	√		M
204		Pama Croaker	Otolithoides pama	NE	√		M,B
205		Bronze Croaker	Otolithoides biauritus	NE	√		M,B
206		Panna Croaker	Panna microdon	NE	√		M,F,B
207		Donkey Croaker	Pennahia anea	NE	√		M,B
208		Spindle Croaker	Pseudotolithus elongatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
209		Spotted Croakor	Protonibea diacanthus	NE	√		M,F,B
210		Blotched Tiger-Toothed Croaker	Pterotolithus maculatus	LC	√		M,B
211	Perciformes Polynemidae	Fourfinger Threadfin	Eleutheronema tetradactylum	NE	√		M,B
212		Indian Threadfin	Leptomelanosoma indicum	NE	√		M,F,B
213		Blackspot Threadfin	Polydactylus sextarius	NE	√		M,F,B
214		Golden Threadfin	Polydactylus sexfilis	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
215		Paradise Threadfin	Polynemus paradiseus	NE	√		M,F,B
216	Perciformes Mullidae	Red Sea Goatfish	Parupeneus forsskali	NE	√		M,F,B
217		Goatfish	Parupeneus heptacanthus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
218		Goldband Goatfish	Upeneus moluccensis	LC	√		M,B
219		Sulphur Goatfish	Upeneus sulphureus	LC	√		M,B
220		Finstripe Goatfish	Upeneus taeniopterus	LC	√		M,B
221	Perciformes Toxotidae	Largescale Archerfish	Toxotes chatareus	NE	√		M,B
222		Banded Archerfish	Toxotes jaculatrix	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
223	Perciformes Drepanidae	Spotted Sickle Fish	Drepane punctata	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
224		Spadefish	Ephippus orbis	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
225		Banded Drepane	Drepane longimana	NE	√		M,B
226	Perciformes Mugilidae	Longarm Mullet	Osteomugil cunnesius	NE	√		M,B
227		Striped Mullet	Mugil cephalus	LC	√		M,F,B
228		Greenback Mullet	Planiliza subviridis	NE	√		M,F,B
229		Corsula Mullet	Rhinomugil corsula	LC	√		M,F,B
230		Mullet	Valamugil speigleri	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
231		Yellowtail Mullet	Sicamugil cascasia	LC	√		M,F,B
232		Goldspot Mullet	Liza parsia	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F
233		Tade Grey Mullet	Chelon planiceps	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
234		Goldspot Mullet	Chelon parsia	NE	√		M,F,B
235	Perciformes Uranoscopidae	Stargazer	Uranoscopus guttatus	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
236		Stargazer	Ichthyscopus lebeck	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M
237		Two Spined Yellowtail Stargazer	Uranoscopus cognatus	NE	√		M
238	Perciformes Eleotridae	Duckbill Sleeper	Butis butis	LC	√		M
239		Black Spot Sleeper Goby	Butis humeralis	NE	√		M,F,B
240		Sleeper Goby	Butis melanostigma	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
241		Dusky Sleeper	Eleotris fusca	LC	√		M,F,B
242	Perciformes Gobiidae	Mudskipper	Boleophthalmus boddarti	LC	√		M,F,B
243		Tank Goby	Glossogobius giuris	NE	√		M,F,B
244		Goby	Apocryptes bato	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
245		Bearded Worm Goby	Taenioides cirratus	DD		Rahman 1989	M,F,B
246		Bumblebee Goby	Brachygobius nunus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
247		Goby	Zappa confluentus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
248		Goby	Pogonogoibius planiformes	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
249		Mudskipper	Periophthalmodon schlosseri	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
250		Mudskipper	Periophthalmus barbarus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
251		Rubicundus Eelgoby	Odontamblyopus rubicundus	NE	√		M,F,B
252		Pointed-Tailed Goby	Pseudapocryptes elongatus	LC	√		M,F,B
253		Walking Goby	Scartelaos histophorus	NE	√		F,B
254		Knight Goby	Stigmatogobius sadanundio	NE	√		M,B
255		Eel Goby	Taenioides buchanani	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
256		Burrowing Goby	Trypauchen vagina	NE	√		M,B
257	Perciformes Callionymidae	Arrow Dragonet	Callionymus sagitta	NE	√		M,B
258	Perciformes Ephippidae	Spadefish	Ephippus orbis	NE	√		M
259	Perciformes Ambassidae	Elongate Glassy Perchlet	Chanda nama	LC	√		M
260		Himalayan Glassy Perchlet	Parambassis baculis	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
261		Glassy Fish	Parambassis ranga	LC	√		F
262	Perciformes Scatophagidae	Spotted Scat, Spotted Butterfish	Scatophagus argus	LC	√		F,B
263	Perciformes Siganidae	Streaked Rabbitfish	Siganus javus	LC		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
264		White-Spotted Spinefoot	Siganus canaliculatus	LC	√		M,B
265	Perciformes Sphyraenidae	Bigeye Barracuda	Sphyraena forsteri	NE	√		M,B
266		Barracuda	Sphyraena barracuda	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
267		Yellowstripe Barracuda	Sphyraena chrysotaenia	NE	√		M
268		Banded Or Indian Barracuda	Sphyraena jello	NE	√		M,B
269	Perciformes Trichiuridae	Smallhead Ribbon Fish	Eupleurogrammus muticus	NE	√		M,B
270		Large Head Ribbon Fish	Trichiurus lepturus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
271		Savalani Ribbon Fish	Lepturacanthus savala	NE	√		M,B
272	Perciformes Scombridae	Mackerel Tuna	Euthynnus affinis	LC	√		M,B
273		Island Mackerel	Rastrelliger faughni	DD	√		M
274		Indian Mackerel	Rastrelliger kanagurta	LC	√		M
275		Indian Mackerel	Rastrelliger brachysoma	DD		Bernacsek 2001а	M
276		Striped Bonito	Sarda orientalis	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
277		Buulet Tuna	Auxis rochei	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M
278		Seer Fish	Scomberomorus lineolatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
279		Barred Mackerel	Scomberomorus commerson	NT	√		M
280		Indo-Pacific King Mackerel	Scomberomorus guttatus	DD	√		M
281	Perciformes Stromateidae	Silver Pomfret	Pampus argenteus	NE	√		M,B
282		Chinese Pomfret	Pampus chinensis	NE	√		M
283	Perciformes Lethrinidae	Ornate Emperor	Lethrinus ornatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
284	Perciformes Lobotidae	Tripletail	Lobotes surinamensis	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M
285	Perciformes Kurtidae	Indian Lamphead	Kurtus indicus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
286	Perciformes Latidae	Barramundi	Lates calcarifer	NE	√		M,F,B
287	Perciformes Anabantidae	Climbing perch	Anabas testudineus	DD	√		F,B
288	Pleuronectiformes Soleidae	Javanese Flounder	Pseudorhombus javanicus	NE	√		M,F,B
289		Commerson`S Sole	Synaptura commersonnii	NE	√		M
290		Zebra Sole	Zebrias altipinnis	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
291		Oriental Sole	Brachirus orientalis	NE	√		M,F,B
292		Sole	Brachirus pan	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
293	Pleuronectiformes Paralichthyidae	Malayflounder	Pseudorhombus malayanus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
294		Large Tooth Flounder	Pseudorhombus arsius	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
295		Deep Flounder	Pseudorhombus elevatus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
296	Pleuronectiformes Psettodidae	Indian Hailbut	Psettodes erumei	NE		Huda & Haque 2003	M
297		Halibut	Psettodes belcheri	DD		Bernacsek 2001а	M
298	Pleuronectiformes Cynoglossidae	Fourlined Tongueso'le	Cynoglossus bilineatus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
299		Gangetic Tonguesole	Cynoglossus cynoglossus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
300		Long Tonguesole	Cynoglossus kopsii	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
301		Tongusole	Symphurus trifasciatus	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
302		Tongusole	Paraplagusia bilineata	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
303		Double Lined Tonguesole	Cynoglossus lingua	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
304		Speckled Tonguesole	Cynoglossus puncticeps	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
305		Largescale Tonguesole	Cynoglossus arel	NE	√		M,B
306	Pristiformes Pristidae	Saw Shark	Anoxypristis cuspidata	EN		Huda & Haque 2003	M,F,B
307		Large Tooth Saw Fish	Pristis microdon	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M,F,B
308	Tetraodontiformes Triacanthidae	Short-Nosed Tripod Fish	Triacanthus biaculeatus	NE	√		M,F,B
309		Tripod Fish	Pseudotriacanthus strigilifer	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
310	Tetraodontiformes Balistidae	Triggerfish	Abalistes stellaris	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	M
311	Tetraodontiformes Ostraciidae	Yellow Box Fish	Ostracion cubicus	NE	√		M
312	Tetraodontiformes Tetraodontidae	Gangetic Pufferfish	Chelonodontops patoca	LC	√		M,F,B
313		Bengal Reticulated Puffer	Chelonodontops bengalensis	NE	√		M,B
314		Puffer Fish	Arothron stellatus	LC		Bernacsek 2001а	M,B
315		Puffer Fish	Leiodon cutcutia	NE		Bernacsek 2001а	F,B
316		Puffer Fish	Carinotetraodon travancoricus	VU		Bernacsek 2001а	F
317		Diamond-Back Puffer	Lagocephalus guentheri	LC	√		M
318		Green Pufferfish	Lagocephalus lunaris	LC	√		M
319		Lattice Blaasop	Takifugu oblongus	LC	√		M,B
320		Green Pufferfish	Dichotomyctere fluviatilis	LC	√		F,B
321	Tetraodontiformes Diodontidae	Spoted Porcupine Fish	Diodon hystrix	LC	√		M
322	Batrachoidiformes Batrachoididae	Grunting Toadfish	Allenbatrachus grunniens	NE	√		M,B

Table 2. Current monitor and conservation measures taken by Bangladesh Forest Department.

Measures taken

Implementation periods (month)

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Fishing ban in waterbodies of wildlife sanctuaries.

Fishing ban in specific 18 declared canals in the buffer zone

Fishing ban canals less than 25 feet wide throughout the Sundarbans

Fishing ban in all canals

Fishing ban in beels and chatals

Complete ban of using monofilament gill net (current jal), set bag net (behundi jal), push net (thela jal), channel stake net (khalpata jal)

No fishing by poison, insecticide and de-watering

No fishing by the net with mesh size more than 01 inch or 15 mm (knot to knot at stretch condition).

Fishing ban three finfish species viz. Pangas (Pangasius pangasius), Sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and Kain magur (Plotosus canius)

Ban on Hilsa (Tenualosa ilsha) fishing for 22 days (a total of 4 days before and 17 days after the full moon in October i.e. the month of Ashwin in Bangla calendar)

Catching of Hilsa (Tenualosa ilsha) and Pangus (Pangasius pangasius) below 23 cm

Boal (Wallago attu) lower than 12 inch.

Ban on fishing of the species Shilon (Silonia silondia), Vola (Johnius argentatus) and Air (Bagarius bagarius) lower than 12 inch.

Ban on fingerling and fish fry collection

For figures & images - - click here

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