Biodiversity of Three Backwaters in the South West Coast of India

Table 1

Species composition of selected backwaters.

Sl. no.	Order	Family	Species
1	Elopiformes	Elopidae	Elops machnata (Forsskål)
2	Elopiformes	Megalopidae	Megalops cyprinoides (Broussonet)
3	Elopiformes	Tachysuridae	Tachysurus subrostratus (Valenciennes)
4	Siluriformes	Bagridae	Mystus gulio (Hamilton)
5	Siluriformes	Hemiramphidae	Hyphorhampus improvis (Valenciennes)
6	Siluriformes	Mugilidae	Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus)
7	Siluriformes	Mugilidae	Liza parsia (Hamilton-Buchanan)
8	Siluriformes	Mugilidae	Valamugil cunnesius (Valenciennes)
9	Siluriformes	Terapontidae	Terapon jarbua (Forsskål)
10	Siluriformes	Carangidae	Caranx ignobilis (Forsskål)
11	Siluriformes	Carangidae	Caranx sehfsciatis (Bloch)
12	Siluriformes	Lutjanidae	Lutjanus johnii (Bloch)
13	Siluriformes	Gerreidae	Gerres filamentosus (Cuvier)
14	Perciformes	Cichlidae	Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters)
15	Perciformes	Cichlidae	Etroplus suratensis (Bloch)
16	Perciformes	Cichlidae	Etroplus maculatus (Bloch)
17	Perciformes	Gobiidae	Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton-Buchanan)
18	Perciformes	Anabantidae	Anabas testudineus (Bloch)
19	Perciformes	Ambassidae	Chanda nama (Hamilton-Buchanan)
20	Perciformes	Ambassidae	Chanda ranga (Hamilton-Buchanan)
21	Cypriniformes	Anguillidae	Anguilla bengalensis (Gray)
22	Cypriniformes	Cyprinidae	Catla catla (Hamilton-Buchanan)
23	Cypriniformes	Cyprinidae	Puntius filamentosus (Valenciennes)
24	Cypriniformes	Scatophagidae	Scatophagus argus (Bloch)
25	Cypriniformes	Ariidae	Arius arius (Hamilton-Buchanan)
26	Pleuronectiformes	Soleidae	Austroglossus pectoralis  (Kaup)
27	Decapoda	Palaemonidae	Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)
28	Decapoda	Palaemonidae	Macrobrachium idella (Heller)
29	Decapoda	Penaeidae	Metapenaeus brevicornis (Milne Edwards)
30	Decapoda	Penaeidae	Metapenaeus dobsoni (Miers)
31	Decapoda	Penaeidae	Penaeus monodon (Fabricius)
32	Decapoda	Penaeidae	Penaeus indicus (Milne Edwards)
33	Decapoda	Portunidae	Scylla serrata  (Forsskål)