Fish diversity of Indian Sundarban and its resource and research prospects: Fishes Checklist

The updated list of fishes of Sundarban gives information of about 350 species belonging to 225 genera, 86 families distributed in 25 orders occurring in this region. Cartilaginous fishes or Elasmobranchs comprise only 10.3% of fishes known, i.e., 36 species belonging to 21 genera, 10 families and 6 orders.The rest, 314 species (89.7%) in 204 genera, 76 families and 19 orders are bony fishes. Among the fishes occurring in Indian Sundarban, the family Gobiidae is the most diverse group with 40 species, followed by Sciaenidae (18 spp.) and Engraulidae (17 spp.).The highest representation of elasmobranchs is by the gray sharks (Carcharhinidae, 10 spp.), followed by stingrays (Dasyatidae, 9 spp.).