a b s t r a c tTwo independent experiments were performed to determine the effects of salinity on survival and growth of juvenile Macrobrachium rosenbergii, first one was to determine the median lethal salinity (MLS-50 96 h ) and second one was to assess the survival and growth at different sub-lethal salinities under field condition. In MLS-50 96 h study 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 ppt salinities were used to initially find out the salinity tolerance range. Accordingly, a definitive salinity tolerance test was done in next phase to find out exact median lethal salinity by directly transferring the test species to 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 ppt salinity for 96 h. The median lethal salinity of M. rosenbergii was estimated at 24.6 ppt. In the second experiment, survival and growth performances of the prawn were recorded at different sub-lethal salinities viz., 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppt along with 0 ppt as control during 60 days culture period. The prawn exhibited lowest final average weight at 20 ppt salinity and significantly highest at 10 ppt salinity. Highest SGR and weight gain were obtained at 10 ppt followed by 5 ppt, 15 ppt and 0 ppt salinity but differences among treatment were not significant (P > 0.05). Survival rate of prawn varied between 91% (at 0 ppt) and 78% (at 20 ppt). The prawn grew and survived satisfactorily at 0-15 ppt salinities, implying that the species can be cultured commercially at wide salinity range. M. rosenbergii can be considered as an ideal species to promote, in view of current and future climate variables as more and more coastal areas of India are going to be vulnerable to saline water inundation.

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Ornamental fishes are the most popular pet throughout the world and high demand for these fishes has made them an important component of the world fish trade. India contributes a very meager percentage to the world ornamental fish trade; but considering the high ichthyofaunal diversity it has the potential to compete with the world’s leading ornamental fish producers in the near future. Sundarban Biosphere Reserve has abundant waterbodies with rich fish diversity. Although some research has been carried out on ichthyofaunal resources of the Sundarban; detailed documentation on freshwater indigenous ornamental ichthyofaunal resources of this region is still not available. To fill this knowledge gap, the present study has been conducted to list the indigenous ornamental ichthyofaunal resources of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve along with their conservation status and their prospective utilization for improved livelihood of local communities. Eighty four species belonging to 11 orders, 28 families and 59 genera were collected from the study area with species representing the order Cypriniformes dominating the ichthyofauna. Nine species have been listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Indigenous fish species of the Sundarban having great potential to support domestic as well as the international ornamental fish trade from India in near future. The ornamental fish species would also be able to generate alternate livelihood options for the impecunious communities of the Sundarban. However, serious concern must also be paid to the conservation of these fish species as some of them are under near threatened categories of IUCN Red list.