Biodiversity of ornamental fish in india issues of sustainability and livelihood security

Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
Principal Scientist & Scientist-in-Incharge(Former)
ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education
Kolkata Centre,
32 GN Block, Sector V, Saltlake City, Kolkata – 700 091
Phone: 9836849332(M)
E-Mail: bkmahapatra1960@gmail.com

What is ornamental fish?
Classified
The fishes that can be reared
in aquaria throughout their
life span
Ex., B. dario, D. dangila, B.
badis, P. shalynius, C. lalia
Non-classified
The food fishes that are used
in aquaria during their
juvenile stage.
Ex., C. chitala, L. calbasu, N.
hexagonolepis, L. gonius, C.
marulius
6/2/2018 Dr. B. K. Mahapatra 2
The varied forms and fascinating beauty of some fish have attracted
the people from time immemorial and are named as ‘Ornamental
Fish’. These include both classified and non-classified type of
aquarium fish.

Ornamental characters Examples
Beautiful colour P. sulcatus, T. cutcutia. C. lalia, B. berdmorei
Stripes and banding pattern B. rostrata, S. reticulofasciatus, B. dario
Chameleonic habit B. badis burmanicus, P. shalynius
Jumping behaviour E. danricus, C. laubuca
Charming predatory habit C. gachua, C. orientalis, G. giuris
Calm behaviour C. nobilis, N. nandus
Transparent body C. nama, P. baculis, P. ranga
Small size B. rerio, D. dangila
Hardiness A. testudineus
Suckers G. gotyla gotyla, G. mcllendi
Keeled abdomen Chela laubuca
DIVERSIFIEDORNAMENTAL CHARACTERS
6/2/2018 Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
3
These living jewels need not always have bright colours; sometimes their
peculiar characteristics such as body colour, morphology, mode of taking food
etc. may also add to their attractiveness.

RESOURCES
Indigenous
Freshwater
Ornamental
Fish
374
Indigenous
Marine
Ornamental
Fish
700
Freshwater
Exotic Live
Bearer Fish
27
Freshwater
Exotic Egg
Layerer Fish
261
Exotic
Marine
Ornamental
Fish
300
6/2/2018
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
4
A total of 1539 species of ornamental fishes are traded worldwide where
India offers more than 374 fresh water ornamental fish species and near
about 700 marine ornamental fish species. Besides, in ornamental fish
sector about 288 freshwater exotic fish and 300 marine exotic fish are
been used.

North-East
India: FW-
250
West Bengal:
FW-190
MW-113
Andaman &
Nicobar
Islands:
MW-150
Western Ghats:
FW-155
Lakshadweep
Island: MW-155 Gulf of
Mannar: MW-
150
Distribution of Indigenous Ornamental Fish

Some Indigenous Fresh Water Ornamental
Fish

Shalyni barb
Puntius shalynius
Rosy barb
Puntius conchonius
Ticto barb
Puntius ticto
Sophore barb
Puntius sophore
Melon barb
Puntius fasciatus
Slender rasbora
Rasbora daniconius
Olive barb
Puntius sarana
Stoliczkae's Barb
Puntius stoliczkanus
Kerala queen
Puntius denisoni
BARBS
7
Gangetic rasbora
Rasbora rasbora

Dangila
Danio dangila
Giant danio
Danio aquipinatusZebra danio
Danio rerio
Bengal danio
Danio devario
Naga Danio
Danio naganensis
Pufferfish
Tetraodon cutcutia
P U F F E R F I S
DANIO
Flying barb
Esomus danricus

Mottled loach
Acanthocobitis botia
Rani loach
Botia dario
Orange loach
Schistura sikmainsis
Gray stone loach
Balitora brucei
L O A C H E S
Giant gourami
Colisa fasciatus
Dwarf gourami
Colisa lalia
Gouramis
Leaf fish
Nandus nandus
Chameleonfish
Badis badis
Nandidae
9

Orange-spotted snakehead
Channa aurantimaculata
Barca snakehead
Channa barca
Dwarf Snakehead
Channa gachua
Giant snakehead
Channa marulius
Spotted snakehead
Channa punctatus
Rainbow snakehead
Channa bleheri
Assamese snakehead
Channa stewartii
Striped snakehead
Channa striata
S
N
A
K
E
H
E
A
D
S

Elongate glass fish
Chanda nama Indian glass fish
Chanda ranga
Himalayan glass fish
Chanda baculis
G L A S S F I S H E
Pengba
Ostreobrama belangeri
Black shark
Labeo calbasu Mini Scale Carp
Labeo gonius
C A R P S
Feather back
Notopterus chitala
Bronze featherback
Notopterus notopterus
F E A T H E R B A C6/2/2018 11

Sucker throat catfish
Pseudecheneis sulcatus
Sucker head
Garra gotyla gotyla
S
U
C
K
E
R
F
I
S
H
E
S
Spiny eel
Macrognathus armatus
Lesser spiny eel
Macrognathus aculeatus
Barred spiny eel
Macrognathus pancalus
Freshwater Needlefish
Xenentodon cancilaDr. B. K. Mahapatra 12
E E L S
Needle fish

White catfish
Rita rita
Devil catfish
Chaca chaca
Asian Stone Catfish
Hara jerdoni
Blind catfish
Amblyceps arunachalensis
Butterfly Catfish
Hara hara
C
A
T
F
I
S
H
E
S
Himalayan olyra
Olyra longicaudata
Blue panchax
Aplocheilus panchax
Killifish

Some Indigenous Marine Ornamental
Fish

Orange-socket surgeonfish
Acanthurus auranticavus
Black spot surgeonfish
Acanthurus bariene
Lined surgeonfish
Acanthurus lineatus
Brown surgeonfish
Acanthurus nigrofuscus
Convict Surgeonfish
Acanthurus triostegus
Powderblue surgeonfish
Acanthurus leucosternon
S
U
R
G
E
O
N
F
I
S
H

Skunk clownfish
Amphiprion akallopisos
Yellowtail clownfish
Amphiprion clarkii
CLOWNFISH
Ocellaris clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
Yellowtail clownfish
Amphiprion clarkii
Dory snapper
Lutjanus fulviflamma
SNAPPER
John's snapper
Lutjanus johnii
Tomato clownfish
Amphiprion frenatus

Dusky tail grouper
Epinephelus bleekeri
Giant grouper
Epinephelus lanceolatus
Striped grouper
Epinephelus latifasciatus
Longspine grouper
Epinephelus longispinis
Barred-chest grouper
Epinephelus faveatus
Six-bar grouper
Epinephelus sexfasciatus
G
R
O
U
P
E
R
F
I
S
H

Cross-stripe Butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Red-tail Butterfly fish
Chaetodon collare
Indian vagabond butterfly fish
Chaetodon decussatus
B
U
T
T
E
R
F
L
Y
F
I
S
H
Spotted green goby
Acentrogobius viridipunctatus
Boddart's goggle-eyed goby
Boleophthalmus boddarti
Red eel goby
Odontamblyopus rubicundus
Burrowing goby
Trypauchen vagina
G
O
B
Y
F
I
S
H

Blue-spotted wrasse
Anampses caeruleopunctatus
Cigar wrasse
Cheilio inermis
Sixline wrasse
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Moon wrasse
Thalassoma lunare
W
R
A
S
S
E
F
I
S
H
Red lionfish
Pterois volitans
L
I
O
N
F
I
S
H
Broad-barred fire fish
Pterois antennata
Frillfin turkeyfish
Pterois mombasae
Plaintail turkey fish
Pterois russelii
Radial firefish
Pterois radiata
Devil fire fish
Pterois miles

SOME EXOTIC FRESHWATER
ORNAMENTAL FISH
(LIVE BEARER )

Platy fish
Xiphophorus maculatus
Albino swordtail Red wagtail
swordtail
Neon wagtail
swordtail
Black wagtail
swordtail
Xiphophorus hellerii
Molly
Poecilia latipinna
Guppy fish
Poecilia reticulata
6/2/2018
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
21

SOME EXOTIC FRESHWATER
ORNAMENTAL FISH
(EGG LAYERER)

Gaint Gouramy
Osphronemus goramy
Three spot gourami
Trichopodus trichopterus
Pearl gourami
Trichopodus leerii
Angel fish
Pterophyllum scalare
Discus fish
Symphysodon discus
Gold fish
Carassius auratus

Red Blood Parrot (Hybrid cichlid)
Oscar
Astronotus ocellatus
Albino shark
Pangasius sutchi
Koi carp
Cyprinus carpio var. koi
Silver arowana
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum
Flowerhorn cichlid (Hybrid cichlid)

SOME EXOTIC MARINE
ORNAMENTAL FISH

Balistoides conspicillum
Clown triggerfish
Paracanthurus hepatus
Palette surgeonfish
Cephalopholis igarashiensis
Neptune Grouper
Liopropoma carmabi
Candy Basslet
Heniochus diphreutes
Schooling bannerfish
Chrysiptera taupou
Fiji Blue Devil Damselfish

SEXING THE FISH
•Fish are either sexually dimorphic or
isomorphic
•Sexes in dimorphic species can be
distinguished by size, shape, colour, fin
pattern, etc.
•Males are more colourful, larger and with
elaborate fins
•Remarkable sexual dimorphism is exhibited
by cichlids, barbs, tetras, etc. besides the
live bearers

SEXING THE FISH
•Sexes in isomorphic species are difficult to
identify
•Often the genital papilla becomes the only
way to distinguish sexes in such species, eg.
the angel fish
•In some cases of isomorphism males may
be slightly larger than females and belly of
females may be somewhat more bulging
However, years of experience gives an aquarist
some insight to identify sex in isomorphic fish

SEX IDENTIFICATION OF
INDIGENOUS FISH

Acanthocobitis botia
MALE
FEMALE

Giant Gourami, Colisa lalia
MALE
FEMALE

Male
Female
Rasbora daniconius

Female
Male
Pointed in male
and
Button shaped
In female
6/2/2018
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra,
Principal Scientist, CIFE 37

Milt oozes in Male
Small male
Larger female
6/2/2018
Principal Scientist, CIFE 38
Neolissicheilus hexagonolepis

6/2/2018
Principal Scientist, CIFE
39
SEXUAL DIMORPHISM OF
EXOTIC ORNAMENTAL FISH

6/2/2018
40
SwordGonopodium
Sword tail
Male
Anal fin
Female
MollySex
Anal fin
Gonopodium

6/2/2018
41
Molly
Male
Female
Sex Characters
• Long dorsal and caudal fin.
• Gonopodium present.
• Shorter dorsal and caudal fin.
• Gravid spot present.
• Anal fin present.
• Larger body structure than male.

6/2/2018
42
Tiger Barb
Male
Female
CharactersSex
Round belly
Red nose
Red line
Black line• The female tiger barbs are
generally bigger in size than
male tiger barb and have
rounder belly.
• Duller in colour than the
male.
• Male tiger barbs have
distinctively red noses and
above black part of their
dorsal fin.
• Smaller in size.

6/2/2018
43
Angel Fish
Male
Female
CharactersSex
1. Small angular body.
2. No bump on forehead.
3. Blunt shallow genital papillae.
1. Large circular body.
2. Thick bumped forehead.
3. Thin pointed genital papillae.
1
2
3
1
2
3

6/2/2018
44
Gold Fish
Male
Female
Fighting FishSex
Sign of Male
Female bettas should have a small
white spot on their underside which
sometimes protrudes slightly.
Males are distinguished from females
by their longer, flowing fins. The male
body is longer and more brilliantly
coloured.
The vent (anal opening) of a female
of goldfish is rounder than the male's.

6/2/2018
45
Corydorus Catfish
Male
Female
CharactersSex
• Females have a larger
underbelly, when viewed
from the top will look a lot
wider than a male.
• Males are smaller in length
than females.

Indigenous Ornamental fishes bred in
captivity
Freshwater ornamental fish Marine ornamental fish
 Rasbora daniconius- Slender Rasbora
 Colisa lalia- Dwarf Gourami
 Puntius denisonii- Kerala Queen
 Macrognathus aculeatus- Peacock Eel
 Danio devario- Bengal Danio
 Puntius conchonius- Rosy Barb
 Puntius sophore- Pool Barb
 Nandus nandus- Nados
 Danio rerio- Zebra fish
 Etroplus suratensis- Green Chromide
 Mystus gulio- Long whiskers catfish
 Labeo gonius- Mini scale shark
 Mastacembelus pancalus- Striped spiny eel
 Clown fishes viz. Amphiprion
percula, Amphiprion
sandaracinos, A.ocellaris, A.
sebae, Premnas biaculeatus.
 Damsels viz. Dascyllus
trimaculatus, D. aruanus,
Pomacentrus caeruleus, P. pavo,
Neopomacentrus nemurus, N.
filamentosus, Chromis viridis,
Chrysiptera unimaculata.
 Dotty back, Pseudochromis
dilectus

Status of Breeding of Freshwater ornamental fish
 About 13 indigenous freshwater ornamental fish species
successfully bred in captivity.
 Mainly the Kerala queen,
Puntius denisonii used for mass scale
seed production and trading.
 Rosy barb, Puntius conchonius is being utilised for varietal
development and Shining barb variety has been developed.

Breeding of marine ornamental fish
CMFRI developed the hatchery technology for 14 species of
marine ornamental fish species including 5 Clown fish species, 8
damsel fish species and Dotty back fish.
6/2/2018
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
48
Amphiprion percula A. sandaracinos A. ocellaris A. sebae
Premnas biaculeatus
Dascyllus
trimaculatus D. aruanus Pomacentrus caeruleus P. pavo
Neopomacentrus nemurus N. filamentosus Chromis viridis
Chrysiptera unimaculata
Pseudochromis dilectus

Breeding and larval rearing of Gourami

Breeding and larval rearing of Brachydanio rerio

Breeding and larval rearing of Rasbora
♂
♀

Breeding and larval rearing of Puntius sophore

Breeding of Sebae clownfish, Amphiprion sebae

Breeding of Ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris

Breeding of Orange clownfish, Amphiprion percula

Breeding of Maroon clownfish, Premnas biaculeatus

SCALED UP THE HATCHERY PRODUCTION OF CLOWNS

Breeding of Twinspot damselfish, Chrysiptera biocellata
1st Day Eggs 2nd Day Eggs 3rd Day Eggs
1st Day Larvae 2nd Day Larvae 3rd Day Larvae
Broodstock of Chrysiptera biocellata Egg deposited in substratum

Breeding and larval rearing of angels

Breeding and larval rearing of gold fish

6/2/2018 61
Rearing of Gold fish along with IMC
Spawn Rearing of Gold fish in Pond in Enclosure
Rearing of Gold fish in Cement Cistern
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra

Breeding and larval rearing of Koi carp

Breeding and larval rearing of Albino Shark

Breeding and larval rearing of Blood Parrot Fish

Breeding and larval rearing of Cory Cat

Breeding and larval rearing of Live
bearers

Livelihood opportunities through
ornamental fisheries
Ornamental
fish
Wild
caught Rearing
Breeding
and Seed
production
Fish
trade
Live feed
culture
and trade
Aquarium
and
accessories
making and
business
Aquarium
plant
propagation
and trade
Ornamental
fish export
Artificial fish
feed
preparation
and trade

 The hobby of ornamental fish keeping is gaining popularity
in the country and it is estimated that about 1.25% of the
urban house-holds are keeping and aquarium.
 Through out India near about 1,50,000 families are involving
in fish rearing and culture industry.
 It is estimated that about 20,000 families involved in this
ornamental fish business in West Bengal including breeding,
rearing, feed preparation, decorative material preparation,
aquarium making and marketing and their average monthly
income per family is Rs. 6000-12000/-.

collection of indigenous ornamental fish from wild

Collection & trading indigenous spp.
K h o l s e
P a n k a l
P a n k a l
Z e b r a
K a n k l eC h i t a l
P h o l u i
C h a n d a
P a y r a c h a n d a

BREEDIN AND Rearing ornamental fish

Breeding & rearing live bearers
P l a t y
S w o r d t a i lG u p p y
M o l l y

Breeding & rearing egg layers
A n g e l
G o l d f i s h S e r p a e t e t r a
K o i c a r p
P e a r l g o u r a m i Red tailed shark

Aquarium making and trade

Aquarium accessories making and trade

Collection & trading aquatic plants
A m a z o n A q u a t i c g r a s s
V a l l i s n e r i a
C a b o m b a H y d r i l l a H y g r o p h i l a

Aquarium plant propagation and trade
Vallisneria sp.
Cabomba sp.
Hydrila sp.
Echinodorus sp.

Live fish food / culture and trade
Tubifex Culture
Mosquito larva Culture
Plankton Culture

Natural collection & trading live food
D
a
Daphnia Cyclops Moina Keratella Brachionus
Artemia Artemia adults Bivalves Snails Infusoria
Mosquito larvae Pond insects Earthworm Polychaete worms-Tubifex

Artificial fish food preparation and trade

Trading of Ornamental fish:In Galiff street market of Kolkata

Ornamental fish trade : In Dasnagar market of Howrah

Due to lack of steady supply of common ornamental fishes; many
new species (e.g., Olyra longicaudata, Pseudechenies sulcatus,
Psilorhynchus balitora, Somileptes gongota, etc) are emerging as
ornamental fishes and the trade opportunities of these species are
increasing which is an added advantage to sustaining the
agribusiness opportunity of this industry.
The ornamental fisheries can be given a serious thought from all
concerned stake holders like fisher folk, exporters, importers,
village headmen, panchayat members, teachers, students,
scientists and top level planners in order to sustain the growth of
this new sector of fisheries as well as for better employment and
foreign exchange earnings from this trade.
Agribusiness Opportunity

With the initiatives by the Govt. such as providing incentive to
establish ornamental fish production unit, considerable private
investment can be attracted to this industry, which would create
additional employment opportunities.
With the concerted efforts by the Govt. as well as key institutions
the ornamental fisheries can be developed substantially in the state,
which in turn can gradually gain a larger share in the world market.
 Public-private partnership can be encouraged through establishment
of ornamental fish production units in various parts of the state to make
the ornamental fishery sector more vibrant and remunerative.
Around 38 million people worldwide are employed in fisheries and
aquaculture, 95% of them in developing countries and approximately
50million people are involving in the related industry.

• India has been exporting some unique varieties of wild caught
ornamental fish to many developed countries of the world since
1969. But, our contribution to global export of ornamental fish
remains only 0.32% of a total of US $362 million (FAO,2012).
• The major part of the export trade is based on wild collection
from NEH and Western Ghat region. The only captive bred
native fish i.e. Sahyadria denisonii, contributed significantly.
• Indian domestic trade in this area is growing @ 20% annually
and demand at domestic level is higher than supply.
• The total value of domestic aquarium trade has reached about
Rs.300 crore with a potential to grow to Rs.1200 crore.
Trading of Ornamental Fish

Ornamental fish export trend from India
during 1991 – 2013
0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
2500000
3000000
3500000
4000000
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

Marketing Channels
COLLECTORS
(Get negligible Price)
UNREGISTERED SMALL TRADER
(Get Rs.2-5 /-per piece)
WHOLESALER
(Get Rs.3-10 /- per piece)
EXPORTERS
(Get Rs.5-100/- per piece)

• Lack of existing systematic marketing which includes; poor infrastructure
access (essential for transportation of vulnerable live fishes) and market
imperfection (knowledge about the industry in minimum and skewed).
• It has been felt while discussion with the fish farmers that there was some
deliberate and biased action by traders (such as accepting fish from selected
fish farmers or collectors only) make the imperfect market situation and
dissemination of market information (e.g., price) is abysmally low.
• Presently the ornamental fish marketing system are not very organized. Only
few traders collect the native ornamental fishes through local collectors and
supply them to different exporters based in Kolkata, Howrah, Mumbai,
Chennai, Trivandrum and Cochin.
Constraints of Marketing of Ornamental Fish

Research advancements in Ornamental fish
 Value addition on fish for developing ornamental stain is very much
important aspect in recent time to meet the public demand on
ornamental fish.
 The Chinese started the selective breeding of Goldfish from the year
1000 AD to begin the new stain of Gold fish.
 Selective breeding of fish and developing new stain of ornamental
fish is a common practice but in India this technology not yet
popularized and hence the indigenous ornamental fish are not
accepted in large scale due to their less attractiveness.

Black Moor ShubunkinAlbino
Lionhead
Value AddedGOLDFISH
Carassius auratus
Oranda Gold Tricolor
Pearl Scale
Red-cap Oranda
Ryukin
Fantail
Bubble EyeRanchu Veiltail18/02/2016 90Dr. B. K. Mahapatra

Value AddedKOI Carp
Cyprinus carpio
Koromo
Asagi
Shusui
Bekko
Chagoi
Taisho Sanke
Kohaku Ghost koi Butterfly koi Ochiba
Ogon
Doitsu-koi
18/02/2016 91Dr. B. K. Mahapatra

koi-glass-rosy-barb
Neon Rosy Barb
Hi-fin neon rosy barb
Longfin Rosy Barb
Value AddedRosy Barb
Puntius conchonius
Shining Barb

Glass Fish Mix Color
Painted Glassfish
Pink Coloured glass
fish
Long fin glassfish
Value AddedGlass fish
Chanda ranga

Value AddedZebra danio
Brachydanio rerio

 The breeding grounds of all important wild ornamental fish species should
be identified and declared as sanctuaries. These sanctuaries should be
known to all stakeholders.
 The institutional support shall be extended to identify breeding & fishing
grounds, estimate production & fishing potential, determine the period of
harvesting etc. and also to regulate the entire process of collection and
marketing.
 Only registered fishermen who have undergone specialized skill
development training shall be permitted to collect fish.
 Fish collectors should not use any type of pesticides or chemicals for
harvesting of fish and use only traditional gears.
 Only required fish should be removed from the water bodies and
unwanted fish shall be released back.
 Fish should not be harvested from breeding grounds but only from
fishing zones during the collapsing phase.
Issues of Sustainability and livelihood security

 Fish collectors should plan of proper facilities both at primary and secondary
holding facilities.
 The fish shall be properly quarantined and introduced to prophylactic
treatments using standard protocols.
 A large number of public awareness programmes shall be organized and
all the stakeholders including general public shall be made aware of the
issues including disadvantages of injudicious wild fish harvesting.
 Only few species like, Colisa spp., Danio spp., Puntius spp., Rasbora
daniconius etc. are successfully bred in captivity but lack of complete
package of practices for mass scale seed production and trading.
 Exotic fish species available in the trade are value added variety and
attracted the hobbyist through their desirable quality. In this area India is
lagging behind and very scanty attempt has been made for development
of new variety from our indigenous ornamental fish.
 By utilizing our Indigenous ornamental fish value addition is going on
outside the India and they realize the actual benefit through value addition.

Status of Indian Ornamental Fishery Resources
in Global Perspectives

The Global List of Most Expensive Tropical Fish
RANK NAME PRICE IN DOLLAR $
1. Platinum Arowana 400,000
2. Freshwater Polka Dot Stingray 100,000
3. Peppermint Angelfish 30,000
4. Bladefin Basslet 10,000
5. Golden Basslet 8,000
6. Neptune Grouper 6,000
7. Australian Flathead Perch 5,000
8. Wrought Iron Butterfly Fish 2,700
9. Clarion Angelfish 2,500
10. Candy Basslet 1,000

India’s Position
7th position Australian Flathead Perch
(price 5,000$)
Availability Recored from Andaman &
Nicober Islands
4th position Bladefin Basslet (price 10,000$)
Availability Recored from Andaman & Nicober
Islands

The most beautiful marine ornamental fishes in
World
RANK NAME
1 Mandarin Dragonet
2 Juvenile Emperor Angel Fish
3 Lion Fish
4 Clown Trigger Fish
5 Nudibranch
6 Leaf Scorpion
7 Black Clownfish
8 Pink Spot Shrimp Goby
9 Blue Tang
10 Acanthurus Olivaceus

India’s Position
Pink spot shrimp goby (Rank 8)
Mandarin Dragonet fish (Rank 1)
Lion fish (Rank 3)
Black clown fish (Rank 7)

The World most beautiful Freshwater Ornamental
Fishes
RANK NAME
1 Discus
2 Killifish
3 Male Betta
4 German Blue Ram
5 Endlers Livebearer
6 Boeseman’s Rainbowfish
7 Gourami
8 Peacock Cichlid
9 Fantail Guppy
10 Flowerhorn Cichlid

India’s Position
Gourami (Rank 7)

Most Popular fish species use for export
Freshwater Marine water
• Puntius denisonii
• Hara hara
• Channa barca
• Channa aurantimaculata
• Danio devario
• Botia lohachata
• Botia rostrata
• Botia straita
• Botia dario
• Gagota cenia
• Macrognathus armatus
• Garra annandelei
• Puntius filamentosus
• Dario dario
• Chanda nama
• Rasbora daniconius
• Pomacentridae (43%)
• Pomacanthidae (8%)
• Acanthuridae (8%)
• Labridae (6%)
• Gobiidae (5%)
• Chaetodontidae (4%)
• Callionymidae (3%)
• Microdesmidae (2%)
• Serranidae (2%)
• Blennidae (2%)

Most demanding Indigenous ornamental fish and
their trade value
Name of the Fish Export price
Marine
Jeboehlkia gladifer (Bladefin Basslet) 10,000 US$/ Piece
Rainfordia opercularis (Australian Flathead Perch) 5000 US$/ Piece
Freshwater
Channa barca (Barca Snakehead) 1000-2700 US$/ Piece
Horabagrus brachysoma (Sun catfish) 300-360 US$/ Piece
Tetraodon cutcutia (Puffer fish) 150 US$/ Piece
Scatophagus argus (Scat fish) 14.95 US$/ Piece
Puntius denisonii (Kerala queen) 11.34 US$/ Piece
Etroplus suratensis (Pearlspot cichlid) 8.25 US$/Kg

Stakeholders in ornamental fish industry
6/2/2018
Dr. B. K. Mahapatra
106

Conclusion
India is a Sleeping Giant on Ornamental Fish. Although we are having very
rich ornamental fish resources of both by quantity (FOF-374, MOF-700) and
quality but its contribution is non-significant. Among the most Expensive
tropical fish found in the globe India is contributing the 4th (Blade Fin
Basslet-10,000$) and 7th position (Australian Flathead Perch-5,000$).
Gourami is considered as the 7th World most beautiful Freshwater
Ornamental Fish, and India have good resources of Gourami. Commonly
available world most Beautiful Marine Ornamental in India are Mandarin
Dragonet fish (Rank 1), Lion fish (Rank 3), Black clown fish (Rank 7),
Pink spot shrimp goby (Rank 8)
The country can be an important global player and contribute significantly
on Ornamental Fishery. In this regard Proper emphasis and Co-ordination
is urgently required among the Different Stakeholders. Also separate
Dedicated Institute is urgently required in the country to promote the
ornamental fish industry and trade.

Biodiversity of ornamental fish in india issues of sustainability and livelihood security

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