Deep pools are perennial habitats in riverine systems that serve as feeding and breeding grounds for diverse aquatic biota, including threatened and endemic fishes. Mapping and understanding the dynamics of deep pools are vital for conservation planning and management, especially in water deficit ecoregions. This study was conducted to assess the temporal trend in the climatic variables and map deep pools in four rivers, viz., Ken, Betwa, Dhasan, and Yamuna, in the water-stressed Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, part of the Ganga Basin. The temporal trend of climatic variables (1974-2023) recorded in the Bundelkhand region showed a decreasing trend (p > 0.05) for rainfall, an increasing trend in mean annual temperature-max (p > 0.05) and temperature-min (p < 0.05). The deep pool habitats were mapped using a Sentinel-2 satellite imagery-based normalized difference water index map for pre-monsoon seasons, 2021-2023 through a Google Earth Engine approach. A high number of deep pool habitats was reported in Betwa (> 5000) followed by Yamuna (> 3400), Ken (> 900), and Dhasan (> 700) Rivers. Most deep pools (> 65%) fall within the size range of 100-500 m2. The field verification and observations based on experimental fishing revealed that the identified deep pools support rich fish diversity and sustain critical life forms. However, unsuitable water quality conditions in the deep pools in the Betwa and Yamuna rivers necessitate habitat restoration and water quality management. The potential of deep pools as "refugia" for native and threatened fishes in water-scarce regions and measures to sustain optimal habitat conditions are discussed. This study lays the groundwork for future initiatives to safeguard vital aquatic habitats and associated fish genetic resources amidst ongoing water stress and environmental changes.

This article presents the development of an online information system for aquatic genetic resources of India named, Aquatic Genetic Resource Information System of India (AqGRISI). The system is designed with integrated data and user management capabilities. The growing importance of online information systems in management of the biological diversity and agrobiodiversity has invited attention of the researchers to make such information publicly accessible through digital platforms. AqGRISI is developed as a concept framework and validated for use and is presently accessible at URL: https://aqgrisi.nbfgr.res.in/#/. It is designed to manage compiled data from authenticated published sources, using a database management system and programming for online information presentation. It ensures accessibility through web technologies within the Windows operating environment. The system will provide comprehensive information of the fish species, from a single page, covering various aspects such as biology, distribution, taxonomy and type specimens. The database is integrated with information from in-house databases such as HRGFish, FMiR, FBIS, FishKaryome, and FishMicrosat along with patent information. Additionally, AqGRISI is linked to other nationally and internationally significant online resources and serves as a repository for fish accessions preserved in the National Fish Museum and Repository. It includes data on cell lines and facilitates the intake of information on the voucher specimens, cryopreserved sperm accessions and tagged fish species maintained at live germplasm resource centers of ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources. AqGRISI is enriched with dynamic digital maps featuring geospatially tagged type specimens with details on species occurrence. These type specimens are also linked to the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France, allowing users to access images of holotypea, syntypea, paratypes and neotypes along with relevant taxonomic information. Among the available online resources on aquatic animals, AqGRISI envisages to serve as a centralised platform providing researchers, academicians, managers, planners and other stakeholders, with a single-point access to information on fish species. Currently the system is validated for information on finfish species; however, future expansions will enable customisation of this conceptual framework to include other components of aquatic biodiversity, such as shellfish, seaweeds and more. The concept framework also holds the possibility for usage by other countries especially in Asia, which share ancestral aquatic gene pools. Keywords: Aquatic Genetic Resource Information System, Database, Fish, India

The deep pools are considered vital habitats for both aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in arid and semi-arid rivers. These ‘refugia’ habitats sustain the aquatic biodiversity of local and regional importance when water flow ceases. Banas is an ecologically unique and non-perennial river in the Ganga Basin originating from the Aravalli Range and flowing through the semi-arid region of Rajasthan, India. This study maps and characterises the deep pools in the water stressed river using Sentinel-2 satellite data (2019–2022). Mapping and analysis were done using geospatial tools and field data. The composite map reported 2.18 km2 (0.6

Shrimps contribute a considerable share to global food demands and are presumed to be one of the most popular delicacies worldwide. The nutrition value of shrimps is also very high. Shrimp aquaculture industry faces a lot of challenges due to anthropogenic or non-anthropogenic reasons. Occurrence of disease is one of the chief reasons involved in management of shrimp aquaculture. The shrimps are highly fragile species and are markedly prone to various viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases. Past few decades of shrimp aquaculture have experienced deadly devastations due to viral and bacterial outbreaks. In order to prevent the recurrent disease, usage of the antibiotics has become customary practice as a therapeutic measure. The repercussion of using antibiotics in aquaculture is biomagnifications of toxic residues that further get accumulated in the food chains and food webs, eventually causing pollution in the environment. Hence, proper sanitation practices when synergistically used with immunostimulants, immunomodulators, pathogen free stocks, etc. can help the shrimp industry flourish in the current times. In the present paper, the importance of shrimps is described as food and eco-friendly measures to preserve the global shrimp industry so that it can meet the escalating food demands globally.

White Spot disease is a devastating disease of shrimps caused by White Spot Syndrome Virus in multifarious shrimp species. At present there is no absolute medication to suppress the disease hence, there is an urgent need for development of drug against the virus. Molecular interaction between viral envelope protein VP28 and shrimp receptor protein especially chitins play a pivotal role in ingression of WSSV. In the present study, we have tried to shed light on structural aspects of lectin protein in Marsupenaeus japonicus (MjsvCL). A structural insight to the CTLD-domain of MjsvCL has facilitated the understanding of the binding mechanism between the two proteins that is responsible for entry of WSSV into shrimps. Further, incorporation of molecular dynamics simulation and MMPBSA studies revealed the affinity of binding and certain hotspot residues, which are critical for association of both the proteins. For the first time we have proposed that these amino acids are quintessential for formation of VP28-MjsvCL complex and play crucial role in entry of WSSV into shrimps. Targeting the interaction between VP28 and CTLD of MjsvCL may possibly serve as a potential drug target. The current study provides information for better understanding the interaction between VP28 and MjsvCL that could be a plausible site for future inhibitors against WSSV in shrimps.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Luni is an ephemeral and inland saline river flowing through the Thar Desert of India. The present study focusses on the length-weight relationships (LWRs) and condition factor analysis of six native and one invasive alien fish species (Oreochromis mossambicus) collected from the river Luni during the exploratory surveys conducted from October, 2018 to September, 2020. LWRs of native fish species showed negative allometric growth for Aphanius dispar, Cirrhinus mrigalaand Salmostoma bacaila and positive allometric growth for Labeo rohita, Mystus gulio and Systomus sarana. Despite abundant distribution of O. mossambicus in the middle and downstream segments of the river Luni, this study revealed good wellbeing and suitability of this river to native and non-native fish species. This forms the first study that reports the LWRs and Kn value of these fish species from the river Luni, which could be useful for estimating stock characteristics and future evaluation of fish population in this dynamic and fragile ecosystem. Further, results of the present study were also compared with the available literature from nearby and associated ecosystems. The baseline information generated will be helpful in understanding the present status of the fish population and also to carryout ecological studies for their conservation and management in the future.Keywords: Invasive Alien Species, Length-weight relationship, Oreochromis mossambicus, Thar Desert

Worldwide, freshwater ecosystems are facing threat due to environmental hazards and management strategies are needed for sustainability of the resources. The present study focusses on organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues detected in the water and selected fish samples of catfish and minor carp species (Cirrhinus reba) collected during the experimental sampling of the River Gerua and associated wetlands, which is one of the important tributaries of the Ganga Basin flowing through India–Nepal border. In the water samples, ΣOCPs ranged between 0.018 and 0.235 µg/l (mean 0.11 ± 0.08) and αENDO detected to 0.004 µg/l in the water sample collected from the lower stretch. In the fish muscles, ΣOCPs ranged between 0.006 and 0.255 µg/g (mean 0.09 ± 0.08) and maximum value of αENDO (0.125 µg/g) was detected in Mystus cavasius. The total DDT was detected to 0.096 µg/g in Clupisoma gerua collected from the lower stretch. The study suggests for development of the suitable strategies for managing the environmental hazards and to undertake the appropriate measures to protect the threatened fish and other aquatic organisms.

India has different bioclimatic zones and supports diverse aquatic habitats rich in biodiversity. For effective conservation of the endangered species in its habitat, it is essential to know the distribution of fish species in the environmental range, and for this, species distribution models are the efficient and innovative tools. The present study used the MaxEnt modeling technique for developing probability distribution models highlighting the distribution of fish species by analyzing the known occurrence records of Denison barb under genus Sahyadria (Sahyadria denisonii Day 1865 and Sahyadria chalakkudiensis (Menon et al., Rec Zool Surv India 97:61–63, 1999)) in relation to environmental variables typically incorporating seasonal and temporal variability. AUC of the models for Sahyadria species depicted good fitness. Both species were found sensitive to “solar radiation,” “temperature seasonality,” and “temperature annual range” and assessed as significant predictors. The sensitivity and distribution of both species to these environmental variables were found correlated with their breading and spawning seasons. “Precipitation” was determined as one of the significant climatic envelopes influencing the distribution of the species associated with river flow. The models showed the distribution of S. denisonii in the higher precipitation areas compared to S. chalakkudiensis. The probability distribution model with respect to the distribution of both species indicates a lineage barrier at Palghat Gap supporting the earlier studies. At the latitudinal scale, prediction of the suitable ecological habitat provides a detailed insight into the distribution of all genetic lineages of the genus Sahyadria. Evidently, the findings of this study can assist in determining ecological niches for endangered species of other areas and may aid in field surveys as well as developing conservation plans.

'Saraiyaman' along Gandak River in the Ganges basin is a protected natural oxbow lake. In spite of the protection mechanism, it has been unrecognised for its habitat services to the fish community by resource managers and local dwellers. To investigate fish diversity and habitat status of Saraiyaman, exploratory surveys were conducted from April 2017 to March 2021. The analysis resulted in distribution of 58 fish species belonging to 7 orders, 20 families and 40 genera. Cypriniformes was found as the most dominant order. Out of 58 species, 7 were evaluated under Near Threatened (NT) category. The high value of Shannon diversity index (H' = 3.50) highlighted significance of habitat offered by Saraiyaman for diverse fish species and its potential to serve as a gene pool for conservation of endemic and threatened fish species of the Ganga basin. The loss of Saraiyaman's connection from River Gandak, increasing encroachment by cropland and climate change have resulted in water level reduction, water area shrinkage, eutrophication, infestation of aquatic weeds, degradation in habitat condition for fish community, decline in fish population, especially vulnerable catfish Wallago attu, and lack of quality fish brooders. Hence, under influence of multiple stressors, Saraiyaman is leading towards marsh and land afterwards. The baseline information generated on habitat and fish diversity status and management measures suggested in the present study will help in restoration of the function and services of Saraiyaman through existing protection mechanism by ensuring the conservation and sustainable resource utilisation for achieving the wetland-associated CBD-Sustainable Development Goals.

White Spot Disease is one of the most devastating diseases of shrimps. Molecular interaction between shrimp receptor protein PmCBP (Chitin binding protein of Peneaus monodon) and viral envelop protein VP24 is obligatory for binding of the White Spot Syndrome Virus to the shrimp digestive tract, and failure of this anchoring leads to an ineffectual infection. This is a first study that throws light on the molecular interaction of PmCBP-VP24 complex and provides important clues for initial steps of ingression of the virus into shrimps.

Among many relevant issues dealing with fish farming, microbial infections are a major problem. There are different viral infections, which are continuously creating problems in fish farming and among these viral infections Betanoda viral infection is a foremost problem. The Betanodavirus is an important, emerging group of viruses known to infect around 40 species worldwide. The major target of this virus is the central nervous system and retina of fishes especially in Barramundi species. Viral Nervous Necrosis (VNN) is now a serious problem for different fish species which is yet to be resolved through strong antiviral compounds. The In-silico screening of potential phytochemicals as a drug molecule with low or no side effects against viral nervous necrosis in barramundi is the major objective of the study. The present study discusses the molecular interaction studies carried out between virtually screened phytochemicals and MX protein of barramundi fish. Findings based on virtual screening, calculation of molecular properties and bioactivity score showed that among 101 compounds, the hypogallic acid, cineole, eugenol, linalool, camphene, oligonol, azulene, caravacrol, pistol and squalene are the active phytochemicals against the selected MX protein. Further intense screening showed that Camphene is the best screened phytochemical with the lowest binding energy in complex with MX protein of Barramundi. Further molecular dynamic simulation study at 100ns (Nano seconds) proved the importance, stability and establishment of camphene as better natural prophylactic and therapeutic approaches to overcome or reduce the problem of viral nervous necrosis in barramundi.

The study focused on the economic impact of tourism and ecotourism potential. The present submission attempts to record community perspectives and to analyze the nature of impact, status of tourism and potentiality of ecotourism of the coastal belts of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, by employing primary survey and secondary database along with the application of various statistical methods and geoinformatics technique. An investigation of CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) norms provides maximum violation along the coastline of Mandermoni beach in the `No Development Zone', because of establishments of beach resorts and hotels of above 58.40%. Furthermore, the SWOC (Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Challenges) analysis of the beaches of the Dakshin Purushottampur village coastal belts revealed that Soula and Changasuli have vivid and varied natural strengths for ecotourism. To assess the economic impact of tourism, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the variables using principal component analysis (PCA) provided four factors from 18 variables representing 78.76%, 68.02%, 38.18% and 2.78% dissent. The critical analysis employed in the current endeavor revealed that the potentiality of ecotourism of the coastal belts of Purba Medinipur district and it will helps in the formulation of the future plans, strategic improvement and prospective road map heading towards the development of sustainable tourism.

The modern relational database technologies provide reasonable approaches to address the biodiversity problems facilitating storage, efficient searches and retrieval of information about species of interest. This contribution focuses on development of a digital database to view fish and fisheries information using integrated tools. To address storing and reporting of information on the fish diversity of the central states of India, MS Access relational database management system for backend and Visual Basic technologies for frontend under Windows operating platform were used. Development of the database was essential to store the data compiled from various published sources; to provide information-oriented services as well as to keep the data up-to-date with the recent information. Presently, the database covers 208 species of fishes belonging to 13 orders, 35 families and 82 genera from Madhya Pradesh; 155 species belonging to 11 orders, 30 families and 81 genera from Rajasthan and 144 species belonging to 11 orders, 30 families and 85 genera from Chhattisgarh. The application features of the database includes search, query and action command button tools that provide ability for retrieving and viewing the information of interest from the database.

'Luni' is an ecologically fragile and ephemeral saline river of socio-economic significance for indigenous peoples of the Thar Desert, India. The present study aims for mapping the ichthyofaunal diversity of an unexplored river Luni and its relationship with habitat parameters based on field surveys conducted from October, 2018 to November, 2019. The diverse habitats of river Luni support 27 fish species and the highest diversity was recorded from midstream segment (19 species) followed by downstream (14 species). The index of diversity (H' = 2.35) and dominance (D = 0.133) indicated rich fish diversity and even distribution. The relational analysis of habitat variables with abundance of cyprinids revealed, altitude and oxidation reduction potential as the key drivers for its distribution in the upstream segment of the river. This study provides an evidence for establishment of invasive species especially Oreochromis mossambicus and its impact on the fish assemblage structure of arid river Luni. The major anthropogenic factors threatening biodiversity and pristine habitats are mining, release of effluents and excess canal water, unplanned developmental activities in the riparian corridor and establishment of non-native species. The baseline information generated on fish assemblage pattern and habitat status of the river Luni can assist in formulating strategies for the conservation and management of this riverine ecosystem to support the livelihood of local communities.

The study presents the status of fish diversity, abundance and habitat structure of Surha Lake, which is a perennial and natural lake fed by the river Ganga. The study was conducted between 2011 to 2013 covering pre and post-monsoon seasons. In total, 4,852 individual fish specimens were collected representing 66 fish species belonging to 23 families. The species diversity comprised 65 species in pre-monsoon and 60 species in post-monsoon season (p<0.05). The highest species diversity was recorded for the family Cyprinidae (22), followed by Bagridae (7). An assessment of conservation status of 66 fish species as per IUCN Red List 2019 criteria listed 6 species under near threatened (NT), 54 under least concern (LC) and two species under vulnerable (VU) category. The study reports several commercially important species under near threatened (Chitala chitala, Labeo pangusia, Ompok bimaculatus, Ompok pabda, , Ailia coila and Bagarius bagarius), which makes Surha Taal an important natural lake from fishery management point of view. The study also prioritised different habitat types important for different species. The slow water in the mid-channel areas of the lake were categorised as important habitats for near threatened and vulnerable fish species like C. chitala, B. bagarius and Wallago attu, which can be prioritised for population level management.

The HMOX1 gene plays role in several biological processes and is also responsive to hypoxia stress. Freshwater carp fish, Labeo rohita, is reported as hypoxia sensitive, but the information of annotated hypoxia genes in public domain is very scanty for this species. Here, an attempt was made to isolate and characterize HMOX1 gene in L. rohita using information from zebrafish. HMOX1 gene was obtained by mapping HMOX1 protein of zebrafish over assembled genome of L. rohita. Aligned region was used for designing primers for HMOX1 amplification. Eight overlapping sets of primers were designed for amplifying ~540 bp long successive overlapping fragments. Splicing of overlapping amplicons generated 3715 bp fragment that was confirmed as HMOX1 gene having full coding region with 6 exons between 184 and 2156 bp positions. HMOX1 characterization is an initiative for L. rohita genes annotation to support the characterization of new genes in the important species.

Cyprinus carpio is world's most widely distributed freshwater species highly used in aquaculture. It is a hypoxia-tolerant species as it lives in oxygen-deficient environment for a long period. The tolerance potential of an animal against hypoxia relates it to induced gene expression, where a hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) binds to a transcriptionally active site, hypoxia response element (HRE), a 5-base short motif that lies within the promoter/ enhancer region of a certain gene, for inducing gene expression and preventing/minimizing hypoxia effects. HRE is functionally active when it contains another motif, the hypoxia ancillary sequence (HAS), which is typically adjacent to downstream of HRE within 7- to 15-nt space. Here, an attempt was made for mining HRE and identifying functional HIF binding sites (HBS) in a genome-wide analysis of C. carpio. For this, gene information along with the 5,000-nt upstream (-4,900 to +100) sequences of 31,466 protein coding genes was downloaded from "Gene" and "RefSeq" databases. Analysis was performed after filtration of the impracticable genes. A total of 116,148 HRE consensus sequences were mined from 29,545 genes in different promoter regions. HRE with HAS consensus motifs were found in the promoter region of 9,589 genes. Further, the already reported genes for hypoxia response in humans and zebrafish were reanalyzed for detecting HRE sites in their promoters and used for comparative analysis with gene promoters of C. carpio for providing support to identify functional HBS in the gene promoter of C. carpio. An interactive user interface HREExplorer was developed for presenting the results on the World Wide Web and visualizing possible HBS in protein coding genes in C. carpio and displaying the comparative results along with the reported hypoxia-responsive genes of zebrafish and reported hypoxia-inducible genes in humans. In this study, a set of Perl program was written for the compilation and analysis of information that might be used for a similar study in other species. This novel work may provide a workbench for analyzing the promoter regions of hypoxia-responsive genes.

Betanoda virus is one of the most important and emerging groups of viruses known to infect around 40 species found to be worldwide in distribution. The most common and virulent target of infection for this virus is (Lates Calcarifer) (barramundi). It is found that the expression of MX protein is found to be the more susceptible reason for this viral infection. Considering this current study including characterization to structure prediction revolves around the MX protein as a target. The progression of this study describes the amino acid sequence of MX protein was retrieved from UniProt database in Fasta format and further primary structure analysis and characterization including nature of amino acids, instability index reading, GRAVY, determination of phosphorylation as well as signal peptide cleavage sites was done with the help of various tools. Secondary structure prediction has proceeded through SOPMA server analysis revealed that MX protein has mixed secondary structure, i.e., mostly alpha-helix and beta-turn. The progression of this work prediction of a 3D structure along with functional site prediction of MX protein of Fish (Lates Calcarifer) is done through standard modeling tools. The 3D structure of this protein of (Lates Calcarifer) as documented in this study may provide a valuable aid for designing an inhibitor or better ligand against viral nervous necrosis disease and could play a vital role in drug design.

The connective tissue growth factor gene plays important role in several biological processes and also responsive to hypoxia stress in fishes. The freshwater fish, Labeo rohita, highly cultured in Indian subcontinent for food, is reported as hypoxia sensitive but annotation and sequences of nuclear genes were not available for this species so far in the public domain, except some transcripts. In this study, an attempt was made for isolation and annotation of the CTGF gene in L. rohita using information of zebrafish from the same family. The CTGF gene sequence was obtained by aligning assembled genome of L. rohita, (NCBI BioProject ID: PRJNA437789), with the CTGF protein of zebrafish. Eight overlapping sets of forward and reverse primers from aligned region were designed for amplification of around 600 bp long successive overlapping fragments of CTGF gene in L. rohita. Assembly and annotation of overlapping fragments confirmed a complete 2421 bp long CTGF gene sequence with a full coding region that comprised of five exons between 308 and 1921 positions. This annotated CTGF gene sequence was submitted to GenBank (Acc. No. KY940466). Characterization of CTGF will be an initiative in identification of hypoxia response genes in L. rohita which may further help in understanding the mechanism of hypoxia tolerability in this species.