Principal Investigator of a Project on the Population characteristics, bionomics , Habitat ecology, and induced breeding of some threatened catfishes of Kerala funded by the Kerala State Council for Science , Technology and Environment , Government of Kerala.

Project summary:
A project on the “Population Characteristics, Bionomics, Habitat Ecology and Captive breeding of two species of endangered catfishes of Kerala, Horabagrus brachysoma and Horabagrus nigricollaris” funded by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) is being carried out in the department of Zoology, University of Kerala. The project was originally established in 2004 to conduct research and management activities benefiting the concerned species. The mission of the project is to gather information regarding the stock characteristics, life history traits and ecology, identification of threats and to suggest management plans relevant for the recovery and conservation of the species. These two bagrid catfishes are endemic to the Western Ghats and are the only members of the genus Horabagrus.

The basic objectives of the project were accomplished successfully in the first year. Population characteristics and biological data regarding the species were collected from the riverine habitats of Kerala. During the field study relevant methodologies of data acquisition were used and the traditional ecological and biological knowledge were made use. Indoor and outdoor studies on life history traits were carried out for developing conservation programme for the species. Reproductive biology estimators such as sexual dimorphism, sex ratio, size at first maturity and potential fecundity were analyzed from the varied riverine systems. Food and feeding habits of the species in the wild were studied and the growth of the species using farm made feeds was examined in the indoor system. As part of the on going project fish habitat inventory data is being gathered now.