Parana Journal of Science and Education (PJSE) – v.8, n.6, (1-8) August 8, 2022 ISSN: 2447-6153 https://sites.google.com/site/pjsciencea 1 Distribution of major ornamental fishes in the estuaries of Indian Sundarbans Sana Ahmed 1,◊ , Ricardo Gobato 2,☼ , Sufia Zaman 1,§ and Abhijit Mitra 3,† 1 Department of Oceanography, Techno India University, West Bengal, EM 4 Salt Lake, Sector V, Kolkata 700091, India. 2 Green Land Landscaping and Gardening, Seedling Growth Laboratory, 86130-000, Paraná, Brazil. 3 Department of Marine Science, University of Calcutta, 35 B.C. Road, Kolkata 700019, India. To cite this article: Sana Ahmed, Ricardo Gobato, Sufia Zaman, and Abhijit Mitra. “Distribution of major ornamental fishes in the estuaries of Indian Sundarbans”, Parana Journal of Science and Education. Vol. 8, No. 6, 2022, pp. 1-8. DOI: tiny.cc/PJSE24476153v8i6p001-008 Received: July 17, 2022; Accepted: July 31, 2022; Published: August 8, 2022. Abstract The estuaries of Indian Sundarbans are the hotspots of several categories of ornamental fishes that are primarily distributed as a function of salinity. Carried out a survey during November 2019 to January 2020 (postmonsoon period) at 10 stations distributed in the western and central sectors of Indian Sundarbans. Recorded 19 ornamental fish species during our survey, which exhibited significant distribution pattern based on the salinity of the ambient aquatic phase. It is interesting to note that the stations in the western sector of Indian Sundarbans namely, Harinbari (Stn. 1), Chemaguri (Stn. 2), Sagar South (Stn. 3), Lothian island (Stn. 4) and Prentice island (Stn. 5) showed the presence of all types of fishes, where as in the estuarine water surrounding the stations of central Indian Sundarbans namely, Canning (Stn. 6), Sajnekhali (Stn.7), Chotomollakhali (Stn. 8), Satjelia (Stn. 9) and Pakhiralaya (Stn. 10) most of the species are absent. The hypersalinity of the estuarine water might pose an adverse impact on the ornamental fish diversity in this sector of Indian Sundarbans. Keywords: Indian Sundarbans, Estuary, Ornamental Fish Diversity and Salinity. ◊ Email: sanahmed85@gmail.com ☼ Email: ricardogobato@hotmail.com § Email: zamansufia123@gmail.com † Email: abhijit_mitra@hotmail.com (Corresponding Author)