Inland Fisheries

7.1.7 Exotic cold water fishes

The exotic cold water fishes introduced in India include trouts, mirror carps, crucian carps and tenches.

Trouts: Salmo gairdneri gairdneri (steel head trout), Salmo tutta fario (brown trout), S. lavensis, S. salar (Atlantic salmon), Onchorhynchus nerka (golden rainbow trout) and the tiger trout. The first attempt to transplant trout in India was made at Nilgiris in 1907. In the Himalayas, trout has been transplanted in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, in Garhwal Himalayas, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and in certain waters of Nepal.

Tenchs: Tinca tinca (also called the doctor fish). It was first introduced into the Ooty Lake as early as 1874.

Mirror carps: Cyprinus carpio communis (scale carp), Cyprinus carpio specularis (mirror carp) and Cyprinus carpio nudus (leather carp). These carps were inroduced into the Nilgris in 1939 and Kumaun hills in 1947. Mirror carps are regarded as an ideal fishes for cold waters of India.

Crucian carp: Carassius carassius (also called the golden carp). It was first introduced into the Ooty Lake in 1874.