A genetic catalogue of the aquatic germplasm of the Ramsar sites of Kerala using molecular tools will soon be created.

A genetic catalogue of the aquatic germplasm of the Ramsar sites of Kerala using molecular tools will soon be created.
The Kochi-based Peninsular and Marine Fish Genetic Resources Centre (the regional centre of the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow) has embarked on a project to prepare the document of the shell and fin fish varieties of the fish diversities of the Ramsar sites of Ashtamudi estuary, Sasthamkotta Lake and Vembanad-Kol Wetland in Kerala.
Under the project supported by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, DNA barcodes for the fish varieties would be prepared. The project attains significance in the wake of the decline of the extent of wetlands due to anthropogenic activities and the resultant loss or the extinction of countless species of plants and animals, explained the Scientist-in-charge of the Centre.
The Bureau has already generated species-specific DNA barcodes of nearly 500 marine and freshwater species. The current project “envisages generating DNA barcodes of the fish and shellfish species, which will serve as specific markers to facilitate accuracy in documenting the valuable fish resources of the study area. Approximately 250 species of fin fishes and shell fishes are reported so far from these wetlands in Kerala,” said the project document.
The Ramsar Convention has listed 2,122 wetlands of international importance spreading over 20.53 crore hectare across the world. In India, there are 26 Ramsar sites which cover 6.89 lakh hectare. The wetlands of India are considered as the “most threatened of all ecosystems in India due to habitat degradation, salinity, excessive inundation, water pollution, excessive development like road building,” the document pointed out.
The rain-fed Sasthamkotta Lake, the largest fresh water lake of Kerala, is spread out in the adjacent villages of Sasthamkotta, Mynagappally and West Kallada of Kunnathur Taluk of Kollam District. Earlier researchers have recorded the presence of 26 fish species from the lake.
Vembanad Lake holds rich fish diversity with approximately 142 fin and shellfish species recorded so far. The Ashtamudi Estuary, which is fed by the Kallada River, is a tropical brackish water habitat in the Kollam District. It supports 92 fish species including prawns, crabs and other bivalves, of which 28 are of commercial importance, the research document said.
According to the project document, the genetic cataloguing of the species of the wetlands was not carried though the resources were assessed. Taxonomic ambiguity existed in several groups of fishes and there was the possibility of many of them misidentified.
The Project Investigator Divya P.R. says the study would help in developing species-specific molecular signature through DNA bar-coding of the fish diversity of the Ramsar sites of Kerala. The DNA-based approaches could resolve the taxonomic ambiguities and may even lead to the possible identification of new species hoped the scientists.
A handbook on the fish species diversity of the region has also been planned, they said.