Which one of the following is the national aquatic animal of India?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

UPSC Civil Services Exam (Prelims) GS Paper-I (Held On: 23 Aug, 2015)

Answer 1

The correct answer is Gangetic dolphin.

Key Points

The Gangetic Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal of India.
It represents the purity of the river Ganga as it can only survive in pure and fresh water.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests notified the Ganges River Dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal on 18th May 2010.
Scientific name: Platanista gangetica
it is one of the five river dolphins found in the world.
They are locally known as Susu, because of the noise they make while breathing.
This species inhabits parts of the Ganges, Meghna, and Brahmaputra rivers in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, and the Karnaphuli River in Bangladesh.
Gangetic dolphin is a critically endangered species in India and therefore, has been included in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
They are listed as Endangered on IUCN red list. The species is listed under Appendix I of CITES.
The main reasons for the decline in the population of the species are poaching and habitat degradation.
Threats: Ganges river dolphin is facing severe threats from water development projects, Pollution, hunting, and death due to accidental catch in fishing gear.
Species Conservation Project- to conserve these endangered dolphins by Wildlife Institute of India. (“Development of conservation action plan for Dolphins” in 2016

Important Points

Appearance:

It has a fairly thick body with light grey-brown skin often with a hue of pink, a long pointed snout, and visible teeth in both the upper and lower jaws.
This mammal has a forehead that rises steeply and has very small eyes.
Their eyes lack a lens and therefore function solely as a means of detecting the direction of light.
They tend to swim with one fin trailing along the substrate while rooting around with their beak to catch shrimp and fish.
The fins are large and the dorsal fin is triangular and undeveloped.
River Dolphins are solitary creatures and females tend to be larger than males.