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 Nekton
By the word Nekton we mean aquatic organisms that can swim and do not only depend upon the current for moving from one place to other. This means all kinds of fishes, marine mammals like dolphins, reptiles like crocodiles, turtles, marine snakes, pelagic crustaceans are all included in this category.
Crustaceans
Shrimps: Tiger Shrimp (Peneus monodon), P. indicus, Metapenaeus sp., Macrobrachium sp., Acetes sp., Palaemon sp., Giant fresh water prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii).
Crab: Cross mark crab (Charybdis feriatus), Three- Red Spot Swimming crab (Portunus sanguinolentus), Blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) Two spined crab (Matuta planipes).
Squilla: Squilla sp.
Molluscs
Cuttle fish (Sepiella inermis, Sepia pharaonis, Sepia aculeata ), Squid (Loligo duvauceli).
Octopus (Octopus macropus, O. rugosus).
Fishes
250 species of cartilaginous and bony species have been recorded from Sundarbans. Although most of the fish species are found during transient stages of their life. The common cartilaginous fishes recorded from Sundarbans are Hammer �headed sharks (Sphyrna sp.), Whale shark (Rhiniodon typus), other sharks (Carcharhinus sp., Scoliodon sp., Centrophorus sp., Squalus sp.), Saw fishes (Pristis sp.), Guiter fishes (Rhinobatos sp.), Sting Rays (Dasyatis sp.), Butterfly Rays (Gymnura sp.), Giant Manta Ray (Manta birostris), Electric Ray (Torpedo sp.), Other Rays (Raja sp.).
The common bony fishes recorded are Gobids ( Boleopthalmus boddeerti, B. histophorus, Periopthalmus sp.), eels (Anguilla bicolor, Moringus raitaborua, Muraenesox cinereus), Threadfins (Polynemus sp.), Mullets (Liza tade, L. parsia), Hilsa (Hilsa ilisha), Bhetki (Lates calcarifer), Bombay duck or Loitta or Nehari fish (Harpodon nehareus), Gurjaoli (Eleutheronema tetradactylum), cat fishes (Arius sp., Mystus sp., Pangasius pangasius), Croaker or Bhola (Pama sp.), Ancovies (Thryssa sp., Setipinna phassa, Coilia sp.), Tongue sole (Cynoglossus sp.) Pomfrets (Pampus chinensis, P. argentius), Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), Long- spined Red bream (Argyrops spinifer), Goat fish (Upeneus sulphureus), Wolfherring (Chirocentrus dorab), Ribbon fish (Trichiurus lepturus), Tuna (Euthynnus affinis).
Reptiles
Turtles: Olive Ridley (lepidochelys olivacea), River terrapin (Batagur baska), Ganges soft shelled turtle (Trionyx gangaticus), Indian tent turtle (kachuga tecta), Indian soft shelled turtle (Lissemys punctata punctata), Peacock marked soft shelled turtle (Trionyx hurum).
Lizard: Water Monitor (Varanus salvator).
Snakes: Thinket snake (Acrodhordus granulatus), Dog- faced water snake (Cerberus rhynchops).
Crocodile: Estuarine crocodile (Crocodilus porosus).
Mammals
Gangetic river dolphin or Susu (Platanista gangetica), Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcella brevirostris), Black finless porpoise (Neomeris phocaenoides), Plumbeous dolphin (Sotalia plumbea).
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