A critical evaluation of literature on freshwater fishes research in India

Fishes constitute an economically significant group of aquatic animals due to their importance in providing food to riverine communities and urban centers. As a food, fishes provide a wide range of nutritional gains, including fish meat, fish protein, manure, shagreen, isinglass, glue and other products. The term “fish” is usually a convenient description for a group of poikilothermic (cold blooded) aqutic vertibrates under the chordate phylum that breathe with gills (Nelson, 2006). Actinopterygians, the bony or ray finned fishes, are without a doubt the majority of fishes found in freshwaters. Fishes devided into 3 classes- • Agnatha-Jawless fish such as hagfish and lampreys. • Chrondrichthyes-Fish whose skeleton is made of cartilage such as sharks, rays and skates. • Osteichthyes-Fish whose skeleton is composed mostly of bone such as bass, perch, catfish. Fish biodiversity can be defined as variety of fish species. Fish biodiversity encompasses freshwater ecosystems, including lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, streams, groundwater and wet lands as well as marine ecosystems including oceans and estuaries. Fish biodiversity includes all unique species, their habitats and interaction between them. Due to the life history traits fishes are suitable as early warning signals of anthropogenic stress on natural ecosystem dynamics, or conversely, as indicators of ecosystem recovery and of resilience. Their presence in large number and variety in lentic bodies is a good indication that water is virgin and suitable for human consumption and utility.