Submitted date: 17 June 2023 Accepted date: 30 April 2024 Published date: 30 May 2024 Pp. 35-38.
On news reports of the Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica), Bangladesh
A.I. Barkat, R. Islam, S. Mallick & M. Rokonuzzaman* *Corresponding author. E-mail: rokonuzzaman5128@gmail.com
The Ganges River dolphin, also known as the South Asian river dolphin or ‘Susu’, Platanista gangetica (Roxburgh, 1801) is present along the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu River systems and their tributaries, from the foothills of the Himalaya to the limits of the tidal zone in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. The Ganges River dolphin is an obligate freshwater species, but its presence in the estuary waters of the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh was verified. The fishermen on the Ganges River and its major tributaries in India have long practiced using dolphin oil as an attractant for certain catfish, and harpooning dolphins was outlawed in 1972, so is a rare occurrence now. However, it does not appear that dolphin deaths are decreasing. The river dolphin frequently gets entangled in fishing nets and mostly suffocates to death. The population of the species has been decreasing across its entire habitat, dropping from around 5000 individuals in 1982 to fewer than 2000 in 1997, and likely falling to around 1000 by 2003.
The Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus) is the only all-black thrush found in Sri Lanka with a reddish-orange beak, feet, and eye rings and both sexes are almost identical in appearance. The feeding ecology of the blackbird is described as omnivorous with primarily animal prey, feeding on a wide range of invertebrates such as insects, spiders, snails, and earthworms. They also feed on seeds, berries, and ripened fruits when in season.
Submitted date: 26 July 2023 Accepted date: 30 April 2024 Published date: 30 May 2024 Pp. 33.
A new record of cotton pygmy goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) in Bhutan
S. Nidup, J. Tenzin* & P. Wangmo *Corresponding author. E-mail: jigmetenzin16@gmail.com
The cotton pygmy goose (Nettapus coromandelianus Gmelin, 1789) is a dabbling duck species found in the wetlands of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and SE Asia. The species is listed as a Least Concern due to its wide distribution and stable population estimated to be 130,000 to 1.1 million individuals. A cotton pygmy goose was sighted on 17 May 2023 at a sewage pond in Gelephu (26.858N, 90.493E) in the Sarpang District, which is located at an altitude of 200 m a.s.l in the southern central part of Bhutan. This is the first reported occurrence of pygmy goose in Bhutan.
Submitted date: 31 October 2023 Accepted date: 30 April 2024 Published date: 30 May 2024 Pp. 31-32.
Progressive greying in the white-eared bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis)
D.K. Jangir, R. Choudhary*, V. Sharma & S. Dutta *Corresponding author. E-mail: rounakchoudhary17@gmail.com
Birds have long captured the fascination of ornithologists, in part due to their captivating and charismatic plumage colorations. Deviations from the normal in their plumage often result in what is known as aberrant plumage, a phenomenon that has been documented globally.
The dwarf snakehead, Channa kelaartii (Günther, 1861) is a freshwater fish, widely distributed in streams and ponds of Sri Lanka and south India. This paper describes a record of intraspecific aggression behavior exhibited by C. kelaartii as a display of parental care in a natural ecosystem, along with a few other observations on parental care and protective instincts. Fishes were identified in the field, based on their morphological characters.