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The alien fish invading India’s rivers and lakes

When devastating floods hit southern India in 2018 and 2019, almost a dozen exotic fish species escaped from underground breeding centres into the wild. Scientists tell Vishwam Sankaran it’s just one example of how the country’s remarkable endemic biodiversity is under threat

Tuesday 12 April 2022 14:19 BST
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<p>Picture of discarded suckermouth catfish taken in Tamil Nadu, India</p>

Picture of discarded suckermouth catfish taken in Tamil Nadu, India

From the time he was about 10, British fisheries scientist Adrian Pinder hoped he could travel to India one day to catch the fish of his dreams.

Growing up reading angling magazines in the UK, he was fascinated by the hump-backed mahseer – a mighty orange-finned freshwater fish that grows to about 1.5m in length and weighs more than 50kg – which is endemic to the Kaveri river in southern India.

“I couldn’t believe they grew to such a size. So they always fascinated me, and I promised myself that one day I would go to India and try to catch one,” Pinder, chair of the Mahseer Trust and director of Bournemouth University Global Environmental Solutions (BUG), tells The Independent.

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