House sparrow numbers fall

George Jacob,
KOTTAYAM
The Hindu,  March 20, 2017
The survey of house sparrows held in connection with the World Sparrow Day has registered a steep drop in the sparrow population in Kottayam and Ernakulam city areas.
Punnen Kurian Venkadath, secretary of the Tropical Institute of Ecological Sciences (TIES), here which conducted the survey, said that the findings are so alarming that at this rate the sparrow population could vanish from these areas where they had a thriving population earlier.
In Kottayam the number which stood at 740 during the first edition of the survey in 2012, has come down to 150 in the current edition. Likewise the sparrows were found in nearly 10 areas within the town in 2012. “During the sixth edition it has come down to just five,” said Dr Kurian.
In fact the decline in population was a steady with 610 in 2013; 580 in 2014 and 240 the next year, he pointed out.
Sparrows could be seen in the market place on the Broadway and also at the Marine Drive in Kochi city.
The population is 148 at Broadway and 356 at Marine drive, Dr. Kurian said. Kochi came under the survey last year when there were 142 and 368 respectively at these spots. Another disturbing finding was that the number of juveniles in the pack too are declining fast, pointing to a not-so-rosy future for these birds.
According to him, the new architecture and building materials have been identified as a reason for the sparrows to move out of these areas.
Pesticide presence
The increasing presence of pesticides and the competition for food, especially from doves which also inhabit the same space could also be reasons for the sparrow population in the traditional areas to decline.
Other reasons which have been attributed to the trend could be the radiation from the mobile towers and the unprecedented hot weather this summer, he said.

Research fellows and students of junior naturalists at TIES participated in the survey. There were ten volunteers at Kottayam covering the 10 traditional spots while in Kochi 15 volunteers covered the stretch of Marine Drive and Broadway market.

 

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New catfish species sighted at Manimala river

T. Nandakumar
Thiruvananthapuram,  
The Hindu, October 13, 2014 

Scientists have reported a new species of catfish from the Manimala river in Kottayam district, highlighting the need for more efforts to unearth the rich biodiversity of the Western Ghats.

Mathews Plamoottil, Assistant Professor, Government College, Chavara, came across the fish in January, 2011, during an exploratory survey of the river at Chenappady, a middle-level region of the river.

Later, in collaboration with Nelson P. Abraham, Associate Professor, St. Thomas College, Kozhencherry, he subjected it to detailed comparison with related species of catfish before establishing it as a new species named Mystus keralai .

The finding has been published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology. Mystus keralai is distinguished by its long head, small eyes, narrow groove on the head, elongated pelvic fin, anal fin and pectoral fin, very long maxillary barbells (whisker-like organs near the mouth) and a distinct lateral light brownish green line.

The body is smooth and devoid of scales like others of the Mystus species.

Comparative studies

Comparative studies with fresh specimens of two related species, M. cavasius and M. seengtee , collected from the Ganges river in West Bengal and the Mananthavady river in Wayanad, revealed that M. keralai had enough distinguishing features.

The researchers also compared the specimen to eight other Mystus species found in water bodies across Kerala.

They found that local people regularly consumed M. keralai. They also received reports from local sources that the fish had greatly declined in numbers owing to the pollution of the river.

The authors have called for detailed scientific studies with more specimens to reveal the biological aspects of the fish.

The new species has received the Zoobank register number from the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature, the scientific authority for naming new animals.

The specimens have been deposited in the museum of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, for further research.

 

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