ON THE FISH FAUNA OF TEHRI-GARHWAL , UTTAR PRADESH By

The fishery resources of Himalaya and particularly of Tehri-Garhwal region are immeasurable although they are slowly and gradually annihilated because of a large number of natUral and man .. made factors. But conservation of this renewable resource of the area is very essential for stabilising th~ economy of the area and for maintenance of the biosphere which depends upon its ·judicious prospecting and exploitation. With a view to attaining these ends, it is essential that the various components of the aquatic biosphere are studied in detaU. The role of the proper identification of fish of an area is manifestly of great importance. For this, a comprehensive knowledge on the fish species, inhabiting the waterways in the area, is very essential. The earliest record available on the fish fauna of Garhwal region is that of Day (1878) who made a general reference to fishes of Himalaya. Grover and Baloni (1977) reported 19 species of fishes from TehriG~rhwa1. The record of Bariliu8 barna and Olupisoma garua by Grover and Baloni (op. cit.) is not correct and is due to misidentification. The fish fauna of the areas adjoining Tehri-Garhwal has been worked out by a few workers and since that fauna has common elements with these of Tehri-Garhwal District, a mention of these works has been made here. Fowler (1924) reported·12 species of fishes from Dehra Dun and Hora and Mukerji (1936) surveyed the eastern Doon Valley and reported 21 species of fishes with certain notes on their habits. Lal and Chatterjee (1962) recorded 33 species from the Doon valley with certain notes on their bionomics. Singh (1964) also surveyed the western part of the Doon valley and reported 47 species of fishes. Tilak (1970) reported the presence of Puntiu8 carletoni in Doon valley and gave description of the species. Grover (1971) collected fish~s from the Song river in Doon valley, Uttar Pradesh and recorded 44 species of fishes. Tilak and Husain (1971 & 1973) gave


INTRODUCTION
The fishery resources of Himalaya and particularly of Tehri-Garhwal region are immeasurable although they are slowly and gradually annihilated because of a large number of natUral and man .. made factors.But conservation of this renewable resource of the area is very essential for stabilising th~ economy of the area and for maintenance of the biosphere which depends upon its •judicious prospecting and exploitation.With a view to attaining these ends, it is essential that the various components of the aquatic biosphere are studied in detaU.The role of the proper identification of fish of an area is manifestly of great importance.For this, a comprehensive knowledge on the fish species, inhabiting the waterways in the area, is very essential.The earliest record available on the fish fauna of Garhwal region is that of Day (1878) who made a general reference to fishes of Himalaya.Grover and Baloni (1977) reported 19 species of fishes from Tehri-G~rhwa1.The record of Bariliu8 barna and Olupisoma garua by Grover and Baloni (op.cit.) is not correct and is due to misidentification.
The fish fauna of the areas adjoining Tehri-Garhwal has been worked out by a few workers and since that fauna has common elements with these of Tehri-Garhwal District, a mention of these works has been made here.Fowler (1924) reported•12 species of fishes from Dehra Dun and Hora and Mukerji (1936) surveyed the eastern Doon Valley and reported 21 species of fishes with certain notes on their habits.Lal and Chatterjee (1962) recorded 33 species from the Doon valley with certain notes on their bionomics.Singh (1964) also surveyed the western part of the Doon valley and reported 47 species of fishes.Tilak (1970) reported the presence of Puntiu8 carletoni in Doon valley and gave description of the species.Grover (1971) collected fish~s from the Song river in Doon valley, Uttar Pradesh and recorded 44 species of fishes.Tilak andHusain (1971 &1973) gave Present address: Records of the ZoologicaZ Survey of India distributional and morphological notes on some glyptothoracoid fishes of Doon valley.Badola and Pant (1973) reported 18 species of fishes from Uttarkashi District of the Garhwal region.Badola (1975) reported 43 species from Pauri-Garhwal, but in his list there are several species which are now not valid.Tilak and Husain (1976) described a new species of the genus Glyptothorax Blyth from river Yamuna, Uttar Pradesh.Tilak and Husain (1977) described a new species of the genus Noemacheilus (N.doonensis) from district Dehra.Dun.Baloni (1980) reported 16 species of fishes from Kedar valley, Chamoli-Garhwal and gave certain notes on their adaptations and ecology.22 species, have been recorded from Tehri-Garhwal area and an account of these is presented below.The material studied here has been collected from Laster stream , Badiyar stream, Bhardari stream, Jalkur stream t Bal Ganga stream, Nagni stream, Gular stream, Aglar stream, Alaknanda river, Mandakini river, Bhagirathi river and.Bhilangna river in Tehri-Garhwal resioQ.Material examined: 56 specimens, 34-140 mm total length, collected from Badiyar stream, near Maliyasu Village, 19.3.76, 10.8.76, 22.6.77; Laster stream at Tilwara 2.9.75, 11.6.77and 19.9.78; Jalkur stream at Lambagaun, 15.4.78;Bal Ganga stream at Ghansali 21.5.77and 25.7.78.
Remark8: This species is a predominant fish of hill streams and shows a marked sexual dimorphism.It closely resembles Bariliu8 vagra from which it can be distinguished on the basis of fin ray counts, number of scales along the lateral line and a few other morphometric characters.Material examined: 21 exs., 75 mm-112 mm total length, collected from Nagani stream at.Shiv puri on 31.5.78,10.Distribution: Rivers in the Himalaya (Nagani.Gular and Aglar streams of Tehri-GarhwaI, U. P.) and Sub-Himalayan ranges, Jamuna and Ganges, Panjab, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar; Nepal, Pakistan and Ceylon.

Barilius vagra Hamilton
Remarks: The closest ally of this species is Barilius bendelisis from which it can be easily distinguished on the basis of morphometric and meristic characters as stated under Barilius bendelisis.

Records of the Zoological Survey oj India
Distributions: Asia, India-Assam, all along the Himalaya, Chhota Nagpur plateau and Vindhya Satpura mountains of the Peninsula, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (Mandakini, (Alaknanda, Bhagirathi and Bhilangna rivers of Tehri Garhwel) Burma and Pakistan.
Remarks: Garra gotyla gotyla is different from Garra lamta which is also found in northern India, particularly in the characters of the proboscis.Menon (196~) has clearly differentiated this species 'from, the other species of the genus Garra.

Labeo dero (Hamilton)
1822.Oyprinus   Remark8: It is an important species of Labeo in the hilly region and is differentiated from its closest ally, Labeo dyocheilus in the shape of the snout, the position of pores on the snout and cheek and the nature of the inner side of the lower-lip.The marked sexual dimorphism found in Labeo dero is absent in Labeo dyocheilus.Distribution: Assam and Eastern Himalaya through Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal to Punjab (Mandakini, Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Bhilangna, Badiyar; Bhardasi, Aglar, Nagani and Laster streams of l"ehri Garhwal), Jammu'and Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Schizothora~ richardsonii (Gray)
Remarks!There are two species of genus {)chizoth01'ax in Himalaya for example, S. richa-rdsonii and S. kumaonen8is.They can easily be distinguished from each other in the ratio of head length to standard length.The head is smaller in kumaonesis than that of richardsonii.Distribution: Himalaya, as far to the east as Assam" also found in Ganges (Day 1878) and Laster, Badiyar, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Bhilangna and Aglar streams of Tehri Garhwal district.

Schizothoraichthys (Racoma) progastus (McClelland)
Remarks: It is dark Mahseer which does not grow to a larger size and differ from T. putitora and T. tor in the number of scales along lateral line, ratio of the length of head with 'height of the body and condition of the lower-lip.9. Tor putitora (Hamilton) 1822.Oyprinus putitora lIamilton, Fish.Ganges, p. 808, 888 (Type-locality: Eastern part of Benga.l).
Remarks: This is normally called ~he yellow-finned Mahseer and grows to the much bigger size than the other species of Mahseer.The head in this species is much longer than that of Tor tor and Tor chili noides.
Remarks; This is normally c~lled the red-finned Mahseer.Th~s species can be distinghuished from Tor putitora and Tor chilinoides in the number of scales along the lateral line and the ration of the head to the body depth.
1982.Bolio, dayi: Hora, Bee.Indian Mus., 34; p. 571-572.(Type-locality: the l\lahanadi at the base of Darjeeling Hills).Remarks: The fish ia a bottom feeder and stays at the bottom for life functions.The population of this species is rather poor because it is rarely represented in the fish catches from the area.The brightly coloured and compressed body with a clearly bifid caudal fin differentiate this fish from other cobitids 'in the area.