Fishermen in West Bengal are in for a pleasant surprise amid the COVID-19 gloom as they have exuded hope of a bumper yield of Hilsa, known as “maacher rani” (queen of fish).

Try this question from CSP 2019:

Q. Consider the following pairs:

Wildlife	Naturally found in
1. Blue-finned Mahseer	Cauvery River
2. Irrawaddy Dolphin	Chambal River
3. Rusty-spotted Cat	Eastern Ghats

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

Hilsa Fish

IUCN status: Least Concerned

• The Hilsa is a species of fish related to the herring, in the family Clupeidae.
• It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in the Indian Subcontinent.
• It is the national fish of Bangladesh and state symbol in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.
• The fish contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh.

What’s so special about Hilsa?

• Hilsa has a history of migrating to Allahabad in the Ganga river system from Bangladesh.
• Though it’s a saltwater fish, it migrates to sweet waters of the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal.
• It travels upstream of the river during the mating seasons and returns to its natural abode after spawning.

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